As the Myer City of Hobart Christmas Pageant finishes, the party begins.
The festive season in the City of Hobart is so much more than Santa Claus and the much-loved pageant.
This Saturday (Nov 19), the City will launch a number of initiatives aimed at showcasing Hobart's diversity and supporting local businesses by keeping families in the city while also drawing in a different crowd from the pageant fans.
A lively program of music, dance, crafts, food and games will explore some of the many ways that the festive season is celebrated by different cultures, religions and countries around the world.
Some are traditional and sacred, others are fun and quirky, with activities running from 1pm to 6pm in all locations, but peak times likely to be between 1.30pm and 4pm.
Saturday will also see the start of two scavenger hunts as participants help Santa find his lost reindeers using a podcast or visiting hellohobart.com.au by using clues to find shops where they are hiding.
One hunt is located around mid-town, the other in Salamanca and the waterfront with both finishing in the CBD. At the completion of the hunt, drop the card off at the last shop visited and go into the draw for a prize.
The hunts will run until December 18.
Acting Hobart Lord Mayor Helen Burnet said the Pop-Up Parties would bring the city alive with colour, movement, taste and smells, while the scavenger hunt was just another reason to come to the city for all your Christmas shopping.
"The City of Hobart believes the festive season is for everyone, and this is a great way to celebrate diversity while enlivening the capital," Cr Burnet said.
"Join a range of Hobart's artists and community groups representing different customs.
"They'll surprise and delight you while sharing their festive ways.
"The scavenger hunt is a continuation of this fun, bringing people back to the city to celebrate Christmas all the time while supporting the businesses that are the heartbeat of our CBD."
POP-UP PARTY LOCATIONS
Elizabeth Street Mall - Pakistani wedding with dance lessons, traditional wedding stage and backdrop, music, festive food and many people in traditional dress.
Midtown Apartments Plaza - Colombian Community festivities with music, dance, Colombian food, a giant doll and family fun.
Collins Court - Peruvian Community festivities with traditional hot chocolate, biscuits, nativity scenes, Peruvian music and Alpacas.
Mawson Place and Waterfront (Brooke St Pier to PW1 Forecourt)
Roving performers representing:
• Ukrainian Spider webs woven into trees, as is the festive season tradition in the Ukranine.
• Austrian "Krampus" Bad Santa (on stilts and in costume) warning adults and children to be good
• A German duo hanging pickles in trees as per the local tradition • Traditional festive season food from Vietnam, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Myanmar, Nepal and Malaysia provided by community members and the Head Chef of the Multicultural Resource Centre Catering Team
• 10 x Roller Skating Santas representing Caracas where everyone dresses as Santa and roller-skates to Church on Christmas Eve
• Two Spaniards challenging people to fit 12 grapes in their mouth in a bid to bring good fortune to their family for the New Year.
• Two acrobatic artists representing Norway, where brooms are hidden so the wicked witch can't fly in to steal away the naughty children.
• The Ecuadorian tradition of making small straw dolls, into which each family stuffs the faults of their family, written on paper, to be burnt on a fire in Mawson Place to cleanse the family before starting the New Year afresh.
