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What carols night means to me

Holly PrenticeBunbury Herald
Holly Prentice, the MC of the carols.
Camera IconHolly Prentice, the MC of the carols. Credit: Oliver Lane

Christmas carolling has been a long family tradition in my family.

My mother’s job come end of every year was to help the Bricknells and the Risdons with their Carols by Candlelight event. She would build the sets on stage and make the costumes.

The story goes, as a child I would run around in-between sets and the singers warming up and the man running the music school, Ray Risdon, noticed I was starting to sing along in time, and in key.

Mr Risdon then told my mum a phrase that would result in a decades-long involvement with the City of Bunbury Carols by Candlelight.

My mother Deb and I became a dream team of the event.
Camera IconMy mother Deb and I became a dream team of the event. Credit: Teneille Watson

For the next decade I would be under the tutelage of the Risdon School of Music, and by extension booked as the children’s act at Bunbury Carols by Candlelight every year.

Being named Holly doesn’t hurt around the festive season, either!

Of all the performances, shows and private gigs I would perform over the course of the year, Carols by Candlelight was always the highlight, and not just because of the size of the crowds we would get.

I look back at my younger self and wonder how I never got scared singing in front of — at one point — a capacity of 4000 people.

What made Carols special it was the community coming together, it was reactive.

It wasn’t sitting in the dark of a theatre and being hushed whilst singers performed, Carols was about singing with everyone, giving out songbooks and candles, and leading a crowd to sing along.

I’ve always known the joys of communal singing, when people sing together in a choir their heartbeats syncopate.

My job as well was always the best as I got to be the one to welcome Santa to the stage, and seeing hundreds of kids rush to the front of the stage to cheer for him kept me coming back year after year.

For nearly a decade I was the childrens act for Carols, which we would spend months rehearsing for.
Camera IconFor nearly a decade I was the childrens act for Carols, which we would spend months rehearsing for. Credit: Justin Rake

So when council reached out to me to ask if I’d be involved in what carols has become — Christmas in the City — the answer was obvious.

Especially since one of the talent singing this year was Courtney Gledhill, my first ever singing teacher with the Risdon School of Music.

It was full circle, getting to stand next to the people who made me who I am today, and welcome my home town back to carolling.

Coming back and running Christmas in the City was a full circle moment.
Camera IconComing back and running Christmas in the City was a full circle moment. Credit: Oliver Lane

Thank you to all who came out and had a sing with us. I hope you had as much fun as I was very clearly having on stage.

The Herald’s own Holly Prentice was the Christmas in the City master of ceremonies and led the final song of the night.

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