Carols by Candlelight is an annual Australian Christmas tradition that originated in southeastern Australia in the 19th century and was popularised in Melbourne in 1938. The tradition has since spread around the world. It involves people gathering, usually outdoors in a park, to sing carols by candlelight, featuring live performances by both national and international celebrities and accompanied by a band and or orchestra. Today, the largest such event is held annually at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl in Melbourne's King's Domain Gardens on Christmas Eve since 1938.

History

One of the earliest forms of Carols by Candlelight began in the 19th century, when Cornish Miners in Moonta, South Australia, gathered on Christmas Eve to sing carols lit with candles stuck to the brims of their safety hats. The tradition spread through Victoria and Melbourne, until it was popularised in 1938 by Norman Banks, a radio announcer, then with Melbourne radio station 3KZ. Whilst walking home from his night-time radio shift on Christmas Eve in 1937, he passed a window and saw inside an elderly woman sitting up in bed, listening to Away in a Manger being played on the radio and singing along, with her face being lit by candlelight. Wondering how many others spent Christmas alone, he had the idea to gather a large group of people to all sing Christmas carols together by candlelight. The first ever such event was held in Alexandra Gardens the following Christmas, 1938, and was attended by around 10,000 people.

By Candlelight is a 1933 American Pre-Code comedy film directed by James Whale. The film is based on the Austrian play Candle Light by Siegfried Geyer and Karl Farkas. The film stars Elissa Landi, Paul Lukas, Nils Asther, and Dorothy Revier. A musical version adapted by Rowland Leigh, Cole Porter, Robert Katscher, and Edwin Gilbert premiered in 1938 under the title You Never Know, but was a critical and box office flop that closed after only 78 performances.

Plot

During a European train journey, a nobleman's butler Josef (Paul Lukas) is mistaken for his employer Prince Alfred von Rommer (Nils Asther) by a beautiful woman, Marie (Elissa Landi), and he does nothing to disillusion her. In due course, the Prince himself arrives and is mistaken for his servant.

Cast