From one family’s unexpected gift to communal lunches and prayers to beach celebrations, Australians have embraced Christmas Day 2023.
Here are some festive highlights.
A record number of people have registered to attend Tasmania’s biggest community Christmas lunch this year.
Colony 47’s Christmas Day event is now in its 41st year and provides a free lunch and a community environment for anyone who may be spending Christmas alone.
The charity’s chief executive, Dianne Underwood, said there were about 550 people registered for this year’s event – 200 more than last year. It’s led to the largest event the charity has held
Without COVID-19 restrictions this year, the organisers were able to move the lunch to a bigger outdoor venue in Hobart to help accommodate the demand.
Really, the Christmas spirit for us is about looking after each other and yourselves in the community.
“We’re inviting members of the community who we’ve never met before to really come and feel like they belong and feel there’s something special for them at this time of year.”
The event is mostly volunteer-run, with over 70 people putting their hands up to help across the course of the afternoon.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and NSW Premier Chris Minns have also given in their time to volunteer at the Exodus Foundation charity lunch, catering to vulnerable Sydneysiders.
In Bondi, a sea of red Santa hats filled the sand as thousands flocked to Australia’s most famous beach to celebrate the “Australian way”.
British backpackers and expats on the beach today said spending Christmas in the sunshine was a nice change.
Festivities on the sand are expected to keep going all the way into the night — and well into tomorrow morning.
Many found the sun and warm temperatures a nice surprise, after waking up to a city blanketed by a thick cloud cover.
It’s expected to be short lived however, with the SES placing crews on standby, with the potential for more severe weather predicted for Christmas night and Boxing Day.
Santa and his rein-dog Rudolph crashed the Sydney’s Cruising Yacht Club of Australia to spread some Christmas cheer to those preparing for the Sydney to Hobart race.
He arrived in a sleigh of a different kind to hand out Australian-inspired presents to international sailors on board US yacht Lenny, and New Zealand boat Allegresse.
Packets of TimTams, Vegemite and a footy, were among the gifts of choice.
Participants were warned of a chance of thunderstorms, wind and hail caused by a low-pressure system off of the south-east coast, posing challenges to the race
Dozens attended the Choral Eucharist service, which included the nativity scene, and sang carols at St Peter’s Cathedral at Adelaide this Christmas morning.
Right reverend Chris McLeod, dean of the cathedral, said the community are “sharing the burden” of cost-of-living pressures.
“It’s an important time to spend time with family and friends and to support each other,” he said.
“Hope is something that’s not certain but when we speak of it and we share it, it is a profound thing in a world where it is very complicated,” she said.
“What we’re seeing in particularly the war in Israel and Gaza is just gut-wrenching and we feel helpless and our faith says God is with us.”
The scene was no different in Perth where hundreds of people filled the pews at St Mary’s Cathedral to attend the Christmas Day service led by Catholic Archbishop Timothy Costelloe.
The theme of peace was at the forefront of Archbishop Costelloe’s Mass.
“Peace is at the heart of Christmas this year,” he said.
“It’s very difficult not to be aware of the challenges all around the world at the moment where there’s warfare and violence raging in so many places and so many people suffering.
“I think it’s been a tough year and I hope therefore that Christmas can be an opportunity perhaps to just take a step back and reflect on what the Christmas feast offers us, which is a sense of hope.”
(ABC)
