Voices raised in festive song will ring out when the Combined Queenstown Churches Christmas Carol Celebration is held on the grounds of St Peter's Anglican Church on Sunday at 6pm.
Everyone is invited and carol singing will be led by the Queenstown Community Choir accompanied on the keyboard by Mark Wilson.
Groups from the various churches will contribute with readings, a variety of music and other items on a Christmas theme.
People attending are encouraged to bring a blanket or folding chairs to sit on and a picnic tea for the family if they wish.
Ministers of the churches in Queenstown, Frankton and Arrowtown are expected to attend.
Kenneth Walker, who leaves Queenstown after 14 years of ministry with the Salvation Army, will give an address at the carol celebration this year. The master of ceremonies will be Tom Kerr, the new pastor at the City Impact Church.
Christmas services
Anglican Parish of Wakatipu
CHRISTMAS EVE
Glenorchy: 7pm, Ecumenical communion and carols.
Queenstown: 10pm, Carols; 11.30pm, Communion and carols.
Arrowtown: 11.30pm, Communion and carols.
CHRISTMAS DAY
Queenstown: 9.30am and 11am, Communion and carols.
Arrowtown: 8am and 9.30am, Communion and carols.
Queenstown: St Peter's, Church St.
Arrowtown: St Paul's, Berkshire St.
Glenorchy: Mission Hall, Argyle St.
Catholic Church in the Wakatipu
CHRISTMAS DAY
Queenstown: 8pm Vigil, Midnight (carols from 11.30pm), 10am, and Christmas Mass in Portuguese 7pm.
Arrowtown: 10pm Vigil and 10am.
SUNDAYS
Queenstown: Vigil at 6.30pm and 9am.
Arrowtown: December 30 and January 6 at 9am and 11am; January 13, 20 and 27 at 11am.
Queenstown: St Joseph's, Melbourne St.
Arrowtown: St Patrick's, Hertford St.
City Impact Church
CHRISTMAS DAY
9am-10am service.
NEW YEAR'S EVE
6.30pm-7.30pm.
Wakatipu Community Presbyterian Church.
CHRISTMAS EVE
Queenstown: 11.15pm, St Andrew's, carol service.
Arrowtown: 11.15pm, St John's, carol service.
CHRISTMAS DAY - FAMILY SERVICES
Arrowtown: 9am, St John's, 26 Berkshire St.
Frankton: 9am, St Margaret's, cnr Ross and McBride Sts.
Queenstown: 10am, St Andrew's, 26 Stanley St.
Picks of the week
Today
• 7.30pm: Arrowtown six-piece band the Lynch Mob and friends play two classic albums in full - Abbey Road by the Beatles and The Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd - in the Arrowtown Athenaeum Hall. Tickets $30 from Laneway, Arrow Lane. All proceeds to the community.
• 8pm: Les Alpes welcomes singer-guitarist Noel Coutts and Ela Coutts on flute to the Friday Jazz Club. Free.8pm: Singer-songwriter-percussionist Jo Jo Smith, known as ''the Mistress of Groove'' in her native Australia, performs with New Zealand Gold Guitar award-winning singer-songwriter Dave Coleclough, of Dunedin, in the New Orleans Hotel, Arrowtown. Entry $10.
• 8.30pm: High-energy Christchurch band Forgotten Generation arrives on tour to promote Goodbye Earthquakes, Hello Milkshakes in the Red Rock Bar, with support by Wakatipu bands Rules of Addiction and the Collective Me.
Saturday
• 8.30am-1pm: Remarkables Market has food, produce, arts and crafts and more in the Red Barn near Remarkables Park Town Centre.
• 9am-12.30pm: Queenstown Farmers Market, on St Peter's Anglican Church grounds.9am: Queenstown jet-boat thrill-ride operator Thunder Jet celebrates the launch of new launch Thunder Jet 3 on Steamers Wharf. Refreshments from 4pm-6pm.
