Christmas in Pyrmont, held for the second year on Sunday 30 November, was an amazing success.

The weather was heaven-sent: sunny until 5pm: the clouds burst as the choir sang the last carol.

Learning from the first event last year, the organisers made better use of the streetscape, spread out into more rooms in the Community Centre, and invited stallholders to meet the expectations (and purses) of the thousands of people who attended.

Sponsors – especially platinum sponsor Morton & Morton and gold sponsors Belle Property, the City of Sydney, Raine & Horne and The Star – improved on last year’s remarkable support, and lead-up fundraising events and the wonderful raffle contributed more. $82,000 is being distributed among the event’s major charities (Pyrmont Cares, Barnardos, Ultimo Public School and Swimability) and extra donations to the Harris Centre, Mustard Seed Playgroup, Pyrmont Ultimo Glebe Men’s Shed and Culture at Work.

But the decisive measure is the smiles on the faces of children confiding in an attentive Santa, their parents and grandparents discovering Christmas presents in the stalls, the police and ambos relishing their conversations with ordinary citizens and especially children.

Much of this success is due to twelve months of planning by a team of amazing volunteers, delivering wonderful performers, well selected and industrious stallholders, generous sponsors – and many happy customers.

Christmas in Pyrmont now seems a firmly established new tradition! Click here to see the raffle results. There are more photos on Facebook.