SantaFest | September 4, 2024 | Illawarra Mercury
Illawarra Hotel publican and Business Illawarra's Regional Advisory Council president Ryan Aitchison is one of three men behind the push to resurrect Santa Fest.
Video by Robert Peet
Video by Robert Peet
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NewsTranscript
00:00We're here today to formally announce that Santa Fe is back. There will be some
00:06changes but really it's been an incredible event for the last 30 years.
00:09It's raised two and a half million dollars for local charities and that was
00:14too much for us to give up. It was sad when we all heard that it was not
00:19going to be continued earlier this year and myself and a bunch of other great
00:24operators locally have come together and formulated a way to make it sustainable
00:29now for another 30 years. How do we create an event that's a festival of
00:32place that really celebrates Wollongong, celebrates Christmas and still supports
00:38local charities in a way that is more palatable for the entire community as a
00:42whole where we're engaging every aspect of the community where we have a strong
00:46community focus and we really look at how we formulate this event where
00:51Wollongong as a city is damn proud of it.
00:56Absolutely so the changes being a very strong entertainment focus and looking
01:01at you know what great acts can we bring to Wollongong. We're looking at street
01:04activations along the way what areas of Wollongong City can be activated and
01:09Wollongong Council are most certainly behind that and great supporters of
01:13activating Wollongong as a place where not only people in Wollongong would want
01:16to come celebrate but people outside of the city would want to come spend their
01:21money here and hang out with Wollongong people because we are bloody incredible.
01:24If I may say so, the community is.