A Parramatta Christmas

From festival city to festive city - Parramatta has embraced the Christmas spirit in typical fashion with decorations, concerts and visitsfrom Santa to the Farmers Markets.

Parramatta Council has erected a brilliantly lit Christmas tree, bringing back that much loved tradition and is staging free concerts for Senior Citizens in every ward. Kids have been treated to three free concerts inDundas, Granville and Wentworthville. Banners festoon the streets of Parramattaand decorations spread from the city centre to surrounding town centres. Santa will be photographed with families and their pets at the Markets.

But it is not only the Council that puts Parramatta in theswing of things. Eat Street is alive with revelers in the evenings and everyday the tables are packed with office parties. Shops, eateries, banks and office blocks are decorated - even buses have bunting and Christmas wishes on display. Homes around Parramatta are lit with wonderful displays and each year they become more plentiful and more elaborate. A drive through any suburb inthe evening is a treat for families.

It is a season where Parramatta celebrates Christmas and itself. It seems that everyone contributes through both the joy of the season and also that sense of community that marks Parramatta and its surrounds as a great place to live, work and conduct business.

The Parramatta Chamber of Commerce will hold a Christmas Business after Five at the Parramatta RSL on 14 December, part of which will be dedicated to thanking the sponsors of the Western Sydney Awards for Business Excellence; what better time of the year to say thank you.