Santa is setting up his sleigh to make the trip to Broadford on Friday for the official opening of the Broadford pop-up park.
The opening of the pop-up park, located at the corner of Powlett and High Street, Broadford, will be from 6pm to 7.30pm on Friday, with carols, a concert band, face painting and lighting of the Christmas tree occurring alongside a visit from Santa.
Mitchell Shire Council has partnered with community groups in Broadford to revitalise the area into a lively pop-up park with the Broadford Men’s Shed enlisted to design and construct a wooden 2.4 metre Christmas tree out of reusable pallets.
Broadford Men’s Shed secretary John Brisset said the partnership between council and the men’s shed came following repairs the shed made on council’s Christmas tree in Memorial Park in Broadford last year after it was vandalised.
“This year council are doing something different. They’re creating a sort of mini-square in the centre of town,” he said.
“Council wanted us to make the Christmas tree out of second-hand, unpainted pallets, which we did and then they also wanted a little enclosure made out of pallets to be covered with artificial grass so there will be places for people to sit.
“Another part of it was making shapes out of plywood with stencils given to us by council. The idea is that a picture – 10 centimetres square – will be placed in the middle of each shape and the shapes have been decorated by kinder kids, primary school kids and community groups around the town. We made 250 shapes.
“The shapes were supposed to be hung on the tree but they’re a bit big so certainly some will go on the tree but the others will be strung around in the pergola above the seated area.”
Broadford Men’s Shed was also able to contact Santa himself who was able to take some time out of his busy Christmas preparation schedule to make a trip to the opening, with the shed restoring Santa’s chair as a thank you.
Entry to the opening is free and everyone is encouraged to attend.