First ever Jingle & Mingle
“a resounding success”
In July, over 200 members of Scene to Believe’s now world-famous Santa Community came together to celebrate the first-ever Santa Jingle & Mingle.
Hosted by Scene to Believe, Jingle & Mingle events were held throughout the month in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, and Adelaide.
Santa Jingle & Mingle is the brainchild of Scene to Believe’s Santa Manager, Viviana Diaz.
“At Scene to Believe, we’re so lucky to have a Santa Community with so many wonderful Santa’s.
“Each year, our Santa’s create so much magic and joy for so many people. We wanted to create a special event to bring our Santa’s together and foster a real sense of community”.
A chance to say thanks
For Scene to Believe’s Santa Community members, playing Santa each year is a labour of love. Each year, Scene to Believe Santa’s create Christmas magic at over 200 Scene to Believe photo sets and events right across Australia and New Zealand.
“Our Santa’s put smiles on the faces of hundreds of thousands of children and their families each year. That’s why our Santa’s say that they have the best job in the world! And that’s also why most of our Santa’s come back year after year. They just love creating Christmas magic and spreading the joy of Christmas”.
“From a Scene to Believe perspective, we wanted to create a special event to bring our Santa’s together and thank them for everything they do each year”.
According to Mrs Diaz, Christmas in July is the perfect time for Jingle & Mingle festivities.
“At Scene to Believe, we love Christmas! But we’re all so busy during the Christmas season that we don’t get the chance to celebrate Christmas with our Santa’s. So given that we can’t celebrate at Christmas, Christmas in July seemed to be the perfect time!”
Up until now, members of Scene to Believe’s Santa Community have mainly kept in touch via social media.
“Our Santa’s have always had an active Facebook community. They love sharing everything from Santa jokes and photos, to tips on how to answer questions from the kids. Creating Jingle & Mingle is simply an extension of our existing online community.”
Improving the Santa experience
This year, as part of an ongoing effort to improve the Santa experience, especially for children with disabilities, Scene to Believe has partnered with Deaf Australia and Autism Spectrum Australia (Aspect).
At each Jingle & Mingle event, Santa’s heard from spokespeople from both Deaf Australia and Aspect to learn strategies to enhance inclusion and communication when visiting Santa.
Santa Got Talent
Each Jingle & Mingle event also included the first-ever Santa Got Talent competition. Acts included musicians, poets, and even puppetry.
“Our Santa Got Talent competition was a fantastic success! It turns out our Santa’s have a wide variety of talents apart from being able to create Christmas magic!” said Mrs Diaz.
“A resounding success”
“From talking to our Santa’s, our first-ever Jingle & Mingle was an absolute hit! I couldn’t be happier with how they went.
The response from our Santa community was fantastic. And the enthusiasm that they brought to each of the events was amazing. They really created a magical atmosphere at each of the events”.
Jingle & Mingle 2023 is confirmed!
Based on the success of this year’s events, Scene to Believe is now planning to make Jingle & Mingle an annual event.
“We’re already looking to next year and how we can make Jingle & Mingle even bigger and better,” said Mrs Diaz.
“And in the meantime, Christmas is just around the corner!”
Click on the galleries below for event highlights
Adelaide
Perth
Brisbane
Sydney
Melbourne
Share this story!
