caroling

Christmas carols by candlelight. Sounds very traditional and serene doesn’t it?
That’s the kind of night Amy and I thought we were in for as we walked to WestPac Stadium with some friends for the Christmas Carols Saturday night. We knew it would be a little different from what we were used to just because of the weather, but we were definitely in for a surprise.
We arrived at the stadium with streams of other people, including many small children sporting Santa hats. As we wandered in, the smell of French fries and donuts greeted us. The sun was still warming half the stadium, so we chose a spot in the grass where the sun still reached after paid a dollar each for “candles” - green glowsticks.
The evening began serenely enough, with kids from primary schools in the Wellington area singing carols for us. Things started to get a little different with the appearance of Santa Claus flying above, but not in a sleigh; he instead peered down at us and waved from a red helicopter that circled the stadium several times.
When the kids finally settled down, the evening got off to a proper start with the first special guest of the evening – Matt from NZ Idol, who began by singing “Amazed” by Lonestar.
And it only gets better.
When Matt’s numbers ended, the Christmas banded appeared, with the whole brass section decked out in superhero outfits. Throughout the evening we had a favorite superhero competition with Batman barely edging out Superman.
And what’s better to accompany superheros than men dressed up as fairies with pink and purple wigs? I can’t say I could come up with anything more interesting.
The show really got going when if began getting dark with a rousing rendition of “YMCA,” which got everyone up and moving and made for a nice transition to rock version of “Joy to the World.”
I have to say this was the first time in my life I’ve danced to Christmas carols.
By the time “O Holy Night” came around, we were ready for a break and calmly swayed to the carol and waved our glowsticks in the air. The stadium was filled with thousands of people singing and waving their green glowsticks - not quite the same effect as candlelight, but still nice.
My favorite part of the evening was “All I want for Christmas,” perfectly accentuated with a fireworks show, which was beautiful in the clear night.
The evening ended with a latin version of “Feliz Navidad,” and then we danced all our energy away to “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town,” and we left the stadium with thousands of other people, exhausted, but definitely in the Christmas spirit.