By Helen Velissaris
Dandenong’s Carols by Candlelight event will not go ahead this year, as a viable location has not been found.
The Greater Dandenong Chamber of Commerce, which has organised the event for 69 years, formally advised Greater Dandenong Council late last week that it would not be hosting the event.
“When we looked at the cost of infrastructure to stage it, and the income we were going to get in support, it was not realistic for the chamber to lose on staging it,” chamber president Paul Broom said.
For the past two years the chamber had used Harmony Square to host the event but a lack of community support and lower than expected attendance saw the location scrapped this year.
The chamber was looking to return to the event’s original Dandenong Park location but without the sound shell and stage the costs of hosting the event were piling up.
A temporary stage would need to be built, generators brought in and toilets provided.
Despite the council offering a grant and sponsors also contributing funds, organisers said the costs were overwhelming.
“We’ve looked at the numbers every which way and it just was not viable for us to do that,” Mr Broom said.
On Thursday, Mayor Jim Memeti said he was disappointed to hear of the decision.
“The council was notified this week that the Dandenong Chamber of Commerce had decided not to proceed with its carols event this year.
“We are obviously disappointed, given the history of the event.
“At this stage councillors are yet to formally discuss this matter,” he said.
