Festive spirit to fill Perth streets as thousands of families gather for 52nd Alinta Energy Christmas Pageant

Excitement is building for Perth’s annual Christmas Pageant, with thousands of families expected to line the city’s streets to catch a glimpse of the North Pole’s most famous resident.

The 52nd Alinta Energy Christmas Pageant will see parts of the CBD shut down on Saturday night as St Georges Terrace and Victoria Avenue come alive with festive spirit and beaming smiles between 7.30pm and 9.30pm.

Despite the pageant boasting some of WA’s most recognisable faces, including 7NEWS icons Rick Ardon and Susannah Carr, there will be a clear star the kids want to see — Santa Claus.

There will also be favourite fairytale characters such as Alice in Wonderland, Tinkerbell, mermaids and many more.

7NEWS’ Syan Vallance, who will be attending as a princess, said she loves seeing children’s eyes light up, and the “joy tantrums” children have when they get a glimpse of St Nick.

“It’s so cute because the kids think you’re actually the character . . . their faces light up when they see you,” she said.

Her 7NEWS colleague Rory Campbell will be appearing as crowd-favourite Peter Pan.

“In the moments after it, there’s a massive buzz,” he said. “The energy and enthusiasm it brings. It fades during the year but in the moments after the Pageant, it’s incredible.

“I think the scale of people (that come), you realise it really impacts Perth.”

Ms Vallance said the pageant always had an incredible variety of performers.

“It’s actually such a celebration because between the floats you have all these different dancing groups and drum groups,” she said. “Everyone just feeds off each other with positivity.

“The kids have a joy tantrum when they see Santa, this is when Christmas begins and when the real excitement begins.”

With the pageant only a short walk from Perth and Elizabeth Quay train stations, Transperth is recommending families leave their cars at home.

After the pageant, passengers travelling north on the Joondalup Line should go to Perth Underground, and passengers heading south on the Mandurah Line should go to Elizabeth Quay Station. No southbound trains will stop at Perth Underground, and no northbound trains will stop at Elizabeth Quay between 8.30pm and 10pm.

A number of bus deviations are in place with information available on the Transperth website.