9 November 2013 Adelaide
South Australia
South Australia
Celebrating 80 years young
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Credit Union Christmas Pageant Trail
The Credit Union Christmas Pageant has broken records, lifted spirits during the Great Depression and been attended by an Australian Prime Minister. In 2012, it celebrated 80 years.While the Pageant has evolved since the first event in 1933, one thing remains the same – its ability to bring young and old South Australians together to celebrate the beginning of the festive season.
To officially launch the Credit Union Christmas Pageant and commemorate its 80 years, there was a FREE Credit Union Christmas Pageant Trail on North Terrace from October 4 to 7. The event was a huge success and was enjoyed by the young and the not so young.
This fantastic event brought more than 25,000 people to North Terrace where they were given a free Passport which included a map to follow the trail through the State Library of South Australia, the Royal South Australian Society of Arts Inc, the South Australian Museum, the Art Gallery of South Australia and the Migration Museum.
At each of these sites there was something to celebrate the Pageant including old Pageant video footage, colourful float designs, a selection of key floats, costumes and props, Pageant entertainers including the Royal Family, bands, dance groups, face painters, costume workshops and a rare opportunity to have a ride on Nimble. Many of our not so young visitors fulfilled a childhood dream to ride on one of our Pageant horses. The children collected stickers and stamps in their Passports and took them home as a keepsake.
The ‘Community Canvas’, an 80 metre ‘paint by numbers’ canvas depicting Pageant Day was completed by our visitors. The Canvas helped unleash the artist in us all. Have a look at our photo gallery and facebook site for some great photos of the Trail; including photos of the canvas at various stages over the four days until completion late on day four. Our Circus float, featuring performers from Cirkidz, was launched on the first day of the Trail to great excitement.
North Terrace is significant to the Pageant as it is the street in which Father Christmas has been delivered to the Magic Cave for many, many years so it was great to see so many people visiting this important cultural district to enjoy a very important part of our cultural history – the Credit Union Christmas Pageant.
On the 10th November over 350,000 people lined the streets of Adelaide to watch the Pageant while another 140,000 watched live on Television. It was Pageant perfect weather and the atmosphere was simply electric. There were 40 deep in places and the thousands of smiling faces soaking up the sun and fun made the hard work worthwhile. Everyone had a great time, a time to remember for many years to come.
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