When Nicky Pummeroy steps on stage at this year’s Carols by Candlelight in Shepparton’s Queen’s Gardens for its 50th anniversary event, it will be somewhat of a full-circle moment for her.
One of the two carols she’s set to sing, Once in Royal David’s City, was the first song she ever performed to a crowd as a member of a children’s choir at Euroa Anglican Church when she was in Year 5.
She has been performing at Shepparton’s Carols by Candlelight for 16 years, missing only one event during that time.
Her singing teacher in 2008 was good friends with long-time Carols organiser Shirley Ferguson, who was searching for performers that year.
She threw the invitation out to Mrs Pummeroy, whose answer was a resounding, “Hell yeah.”
“I haven’t looked back; it’s been lovely, really lovely,” she said.
“It just opens up doors. When you perform, people see what you do and then you get other gigs out of it.”
She ended up hosting her own program with ONE FM for some time, which all came about because of the seasonal event.
The shine of the event hasn’t dulled for her over the years.
She said there had always been different songs to sing and different performers with whom to share the stage.
This year will surely go down in history as iconic when she sings backing vocals for celebrity performer Adam Thompson — frontman of Aussie rock band Chocolate Starfish — at the anniversary edition.
The star will be supported by four other local backing vocalists and the Goulburn Valley’s Ryan Black on piano.
As Mrs Pummeroy prepares to start rehearsing, she said her biggest stress was always deciding what to wear.
“Over the years I’ve gone small, big, bright; I try to go a little bit outlandish every year,” she said.
“I love getting dressed up. The more Christmassy, the better.”
Sometimes the bolder the outfit, the more prominent the memory too, it would seem.
“One year I had this massive marshmallow dress and I popped up in the audience and started singing and started walking through the crowd,” she said.
“One year I dressed up as a Christmas angel and walked through the crowd and little kids wanted photos.
“It’s great to have people singing, but it’s also nice to have performers go through the crowd as well, because if you’re way back you don’t necessarily get to see everybody.”
Heavily involved in Shepparton Theatre Arts Group, Mrs Pummeroy is a keen performer; however, she said she still got “very, very nervous” ahead of gigs.
Still, she said she found it easier to sing to a crowd of 5000 than a crowd of five.
“When you sing to five you can see all their faces up close,” Mrs Pummeroy said.
“When you sing up on stage, everyone’s a blur.
“I find it easier to sing at the Carols than to a small room.”
After growing up in Euroa and attending the much smaller Carols by Candlelight held there, it has been a thrill for Mrs Pummeroy to not only be at the Shepparton event, but to be a part of the entertainment.
“If I wasn’t singing, I was presenting on ONE FM,” she said.
Mrs Pummeroy has co-hosted the radio broadcast three times: once at the event’s default home, the Queen’s Gardens, and twice at other indoor venues, the McIntosh Centre and Eastbank Centre, when inclement weather forced contingency plans to be actioned.
She prefers the outdoor events.
“The atmosphere is great because all the families just come and they set up picnics and it’s just awesome to see the kids’ little faces all light up when Santa comes walking through the gardens,” she said.
“You don’t get that at your inside venues.”
The weather, of course, is out of anyone but Mother Nature’s control, but if Mrs Pummeroy could order her ideal conditions on the last Sunday before Christmas, she would.
“We just want it to be a nice 25-degree day, not a cloud in the sky, no wind,” she said with a laugh.
Mrs Pummeroy also performed at the altered format event during the COVID years, but said she was absolutely not a fan of performing to a camera where there was no live audience response.
She said she believed the Queen’s Gardens, with its lush lawn and shady canopy of trees, provided the perfect setting for Carols by Candlelight and the atmosphere just wouldn’t be the same if it was elsewhere.
“When I first started performing, we had the real candles,” Mrs Pummeroy said.
“We had the paper plates cut out so the wax wouldn’t dribble down on your hands, and now we’ve moved to the battery-powered ones so that no-one gets burnt, no fire hazards.”
While safety is paramount, other lost traditions, such as physical printed booklets, are cause for mild nostalgic grief.
She misses that tactile element, holding a book and singing by the light of a real flickering flame.
“But that’s the times,” she said.
“I still love Carols because it does bring everyone together.”
Mrs Pummeroy will also be one of several past hosts invited back for small guest hosting stint at this year’s milestone.
Organisers are hoping the occasion will go off with a fireworks bang if a sponsor can be found to help fund the colourful explosion in the festive sky over Shepparton.
∎ To inquire about sponsorship, contact Maxima at Greater Shepparton City Council on 5832 9540 or email maxima.larosa@shepparton.vic.gov.au
∎ If you have memories or photos from attending Shepparton’s Carols by Candlelight over the past 50 years that you would like to share, please send to editor@mmg.com.au