Christmas will arrive one month early in Stawell, with the town to embrace the spirit of the holiday this weekend.
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The 14th annual Stawell Christmas Tree Festival will be held at the Stawell Entertainment Centre on Saturday (10am-5pm) and Sunday (10am-3.30pm) this weekend.
Members from across the community have submitted entries to make festival one of ideas for christmas decorations for other community members.
Apart from the displays, children's craft activities and face painting will again take place in the foyer on Saturday from 10 until 12.30pm.
A Christmas carol sing-a-long will then be held from 5pm on Saturday. Performances from the Stawell West Primary School choir, Marnoo Primary School musicians, Stawell Performing Arts Company Inc will also take place from 1.30pm on Sunday.
Stalls and lucky dips from Santa's sleigh will operate over the two days of the festival.
Proceeds from the raffle will be directed to the Lutheran Church of Australia welfare and disaster fund, to be distributed to those affected worst by the drought situation across the country.
The festival marks an important time for businesses in the region, hoping to see a boost in sales in the busy period.
“Christmas is one of the biggest retail spending times throughout the year. We want as many people to shop locally as possible,” StawellBiz president Nigel Keating said.
The Christmas Tree Festival begins Stawell’s Christmas celebrations, with plenty more activities to take place in the following month.
On Saturday, December 1 seven-foot Christmas trees will line the Main Street, with community members to decorate trees from 12pm. Tree sponsorship is also available for $50.
The Main Street Christmas trail will also take place on December 1, with the task of finding figurines in shop windows from the Nativity Scene, and matching the name of the shop with the figurine.