Thousands of Canberrans wandered through a forest of Christmas trees over the weekend as the inaugural Christmas in Glebe Park festival opened.
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The ACT government ditched its annual giant tree in City Walk to put on three weekends worth of food, carols and light installations in the under-utilised CBD park.
Organiser Ashleigh Gleeson said the move had paid off.
"We would have had 2000 people through on Friday night and 3000 on Saturday," Ms Gleeson said.
"It was better than we could have hoped. Christmas is so busy, so it was nice to see families set up picnics, with no rush, no panic, people could take their time and enjoy the space."
One of the drawcards was a forest of 65 real Christmas trees under a canopy of Christmas lights.
Food vendors included Kokomo's, Sun Churro Woden, Hello Hanoi, Gozleme Cafe and Tikka Stands.
Children enjoyed a Nerf arena, an inflatable maze and jumping castles galore.
Santa Claus even swung by to enjoy Christmas carols from roaming choirs.
And while Ms Gleeson said families were "80 per cent" of their patrons, there is something for adults too.
Grown-ups can enjoy beer yoga or goat yoga next weekend.
There will also be an open air cinema screening Elf and Home Alone.
A petting zoo and pony and donkey rides will run the following weekend.
Christmas in Glebe Park will run every Friday, Saturday and Sunday through to December 23.
