The halls are well and truly decked as Nelson Cathedral’s Christmas Tree Festival enters its 18th year.
Over 70 trees line the cathedral building, open to the public after last night’s “Light Up” service up until 18 January next year. Each tree, meticulously decorated by different local businesses, clubs and organisations, competes for the winning title, voted by members of the public. The cathedral team expects to see around 15,000 people through the building over the next eight weeks.
Sounds of laughter came from a group of women hanging colourful ornaments on their tree in the cathedral’s eastern transept. The tree didn’t stand out in particular at first – baubles and festive shapes – until one of the guild members pointed out to me that every ornament was actually edible.
This, of course, was the Nelson Cake Decorators’ tree.
The women explained that this display had been the guild’s project since about April this year. Sculpted with sugar paste and dried over a number of days, each ornament was glittered and coloured with edible paint. Even the angel at the top wore an edible lace dress and wafer paper wings, made by member Vicki Charles.
I was impressed to learn that the Nelson Cake Decorators had won the last two Christmas Tree Festivals. “We’re going for a three-peat!” one of the members laughed.
The next tree I watched get assembled was made out of pieces of driftwood stacked on top of each other. Janelle Gardiner and Helen Barber from Nurture@Home spoke to me about their tree.
Nurture@Home is a home-based childcare service. Nature is a big part of their curriculum, and all of the children go on regular excursions to different areas to experience the outdoors – regardless of the forecast, because, as Janelle said, “there’s no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing”.
It was on one of these outings that the driftwood was collected. There was also a box of embellished pinecones that the children had made to hang from the tree.
The team from Nurture@Home have entered a tree in the Christmas Tree Festival for some 11 years now. It’s an annual tradition for the kids and their teachers to meet outside Nelson Cathedral in December for morning tea, then walk through the cathedral to look at all the trees. The children always recognise their tree and run up to it excitedly.
Janelle said that, for them, setting up their tree in the cathedral was about being part of the community. When the children walk through all the different trees and then recognise their own, they feel a sense of ownership of their work, and a sense of belonging to a wider community. “Whanaungatanga,” Helen added.
Another display was receiving its finishing touches from Nelson Community Potters’ president, Mark Alderson. He was quick to point out that the project was organised by club member Ailsa Cowan – he was here to support.
Nelson Community Potters is celebrating their 50th year, but this was the first time they had entered the Christmas Tree Festival.
For the last six or so weeks, members (and some of their children) had worked on pieces for the display from reclaimed clay. Mark pointed out some of the techniques used for each item. Some were thrown on the wheel, others were handsculpted, and there were a few examples of sgraffito – designs carved through a coating to reveal a different colour underneath.
The shape and weight of these decorations presented a problem: they wouldn’t hang from a conventional tree. So the club got creative and cut the two “trees” on display from old doors purchased secondhand, attaching small shelves for the non-hanging ornaments.
When I asked what kind of reaction he was hoping for, Mark said he wanted to make people smile, and to spark curiosity about pottery. He often has people tell him they used to do pottery or they’ve always wanted to try it.
“Clay is a wonderful medium,” he said. “It's very therapeutic, and it gives you great joy.”
I encourage anyone in or near Nelson to visit the cathedral this season to enjoy this beautiful Christmas forest and cast a vote for your favourite tree.
In conjunction with the festival, the cathedral is also hosting free lunchtime concerts every weekday from 1 to 19 December, as well as other seasonal events you can find on the Nelson Cathedral website.
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We have invited these writers to share their experiences, ideas and opinions in the hope that these will provoke thought, challenge you to go deeper and inspire you to put your faith into action. These articles should not be taken as the official view of the Nelson Diocese on any particular matter.
The halls are well and truly decked as Nelson Cathedral’s Christmas Tree Festival enters its 18th year.
Over 70 trees line the cathedral building, open to the public after last night’s “Light Up” service up until 18 January next year. Each tree, meticulously decorated by different local businesses, clubs and organisations, competes for the winning title, voted by members of the public. The cathedral team expects to see around 15,000 people through the building over the next eight weeks.
Sounds of laughter came from a group of women hanging colourful ornaments on their tree in the cathedral’s eastern transept. The tree didn’t stand out in particular at first – baubles and festive shapes – until one of the guild members pointed out to me that every ornament was actually edible.
This, of course, was the Nelson Cake Decorators’ tree.
The women explained that this display had been the guild’s project since about April this year. Sculpted with sugar paste and dried over a number of days, each ornament was glittered and coloured with edible paint. Even the angel at the top wore an edible lace dress and wafer paper wings, made by member Vicki Charles.
I was impressed to learn that the Nelson Cake Decorators had won the last two Christmas Tree Festivals. “We’re going for a three-peat!” one of the members laughed.
The next tree I watched get assembled was made out of pieces of driftwood stacked on top of each other. Janelle Gardiner and Helen Barber from Nurture@Home spoke to me about their tree.
Nurture@Home is a home-based childcare service. Nature is a big part of their curriculum, and all of the children go on regular excursions to different areas to experience the outdoors – regardless of the forecast, because, as Janelle said, “there’s no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing”.
It was on one of these outings that the driftwood was collected. There was also a box of embellished pinecones that the children had made to hang from the tree.
The team from Nurture@Home have entered a tree in the Christmas Tree Festival for some 11 years now. It’s an annual tradition for the kids and their teachers to meet outside Nelson Cathedral in December for morning tea, then walk through the cathedral to look at all the trees. The children always recognise their tree and run up to it excitedly.
Janelle said that, for them, setting up their tree in the cathedral was about being part of the community. When the children walk through all the different trees and then recognise their own, they feel a sense of ownership of their work, and a sense of belonging to a wider community. “Whanaungatanga,” Helen added.
Another display was receiving its finishing touches from Nelson Community Potters’ president, Mark Alderson. He was quick to point out that the project was organised by club member Ailsa Cowan – he was here to support.
Nelson Community Potters is celebrating their 50th year, but this was the first time they had entered the Christmas Tree Festival.
For the last six or so weeks, members (and some of their children) had worked on pieces for the display from reclaimed clay. Mark pointed out some of the techniques used for each item. Some were thrown on the wheel, others were handsculpted, and there were a few examples of sgraffito – designs carved through a coating to reveal a different colour underneath.
The shape and weight of these decorations presented a problem: they wouldn’t hang from a conventional tree. So the club got creative and cut the two “trees” on display from old doors purchased secondhand, attaching small shelves for the non-hanging ornaments.
When I asked what kind of reaction he was hoping for, Mark said he wanted to make people smile, and to spark curiosity about pottery. He often has people tell him they used to do pottery or they’ve always wanted to try it.
“Clay is a wonderful medium,” he said. “It's very therapeutic, and it gives you great joy.”
I encourage anyone in or near Nelson to visit the cathedral this season to enjoy this beautiful Christmas forest and cast a vote for your favourite tree.
In conjunction with the festival, the cathedral is also hosting free lunchtime concerts every weekday from 1 to 19 December, as well as other seasonal events you can find on the Nelson Cathedral website.
Check out other articles in the
series below.
More articles in the
series are to come.
