City stumps up for Vic Square Christmas tree
A brand-new city Christmas tree and decorations with a hefty price tag are being unveiled in the city later this year.
Victoria Square is set to welcome a brand-new Christmas tree ahead of this year’s Christmas celebrations as the city council announced it would spend $836,000 on this year’s festive decorations.
A City of Adelaide spokesperson said the fake tree has been ordered from an Australian-based company, but its final cost and appearance is being kept under wraps for now.
“The new Christmas tree, which will be a similar size to the old tree, will be installed in Victoria Square / Tarntanyangga ahead of the 2026 Christmas Pageant,” the spokesperson said.
“A brand-new tree and additional decorations are part of a broader citywide strategy for what is an important trading and celebration time for the city.”
At Tuesday night’s city council meeting, it was revealed the new tree would be installed around November in preparation for Christmas celebrations. This year’s National Pharmacies Christmas Pageant is slated for Saturday, November 14.
The Adelaide City Council had previously called for global expressions of interest for a new Christmas tree installation in Victoria Square after declaring the old tree was past its use by date.
It had called for a tree that was instantly identifiable and not in excess of 28-metres tall.
“The previous tree had long outlived its previous life and a new tree will be launched to the public later this year,” the council spokesperson said.
Details surrounding the new tree are limited, but it was revealed that the new tree would be full of lights and decorations to be more visually appealing in the daytime as well as in the night.
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It is expected to be similar in size to the previous tree, which stood at 25-metres tall, and be full of lights and decorations better suited for daytime viewing than the current tree.
It comes as the city council announced it expected to spend a total of $836,000 on Christmas decorations across the city this year, with Lord Mayor Jane Lomax-Smith saying it was “a very substantial sum of money” and that council should “tell people how we’re spending it”.
Rundle Mall has $213,000 allocated for its Christmas decorations, while the Adelaide Central Market has $359,000 and $264,000 for city-wide decorations.
Councillor Phil Martin welcomed the expenditure on the new decorations that will be placed throughout the city centre.
“Every penny that we spend on our Christmas decorations is worth it, they have looked terrible for decades and they are improving dramatically.”
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