Christmas is near - you can hardly fail to notice it around town. But it was carolling that really kicked off the season for those who sang in Lan Kwai Fong on Friday. Some 200 people packed the Lan Kwai Fong amphitheatre, with smiles on faces and drinks in hand. They all sang for an hour, filling the amphitheatre with joy. It was the fourth year that the Katterwall music group had organised the Community Christmas Carols, which have become an annual ritual for some people. 'Every year, many say they want to see this happen again the next year, so we keep coming back,' Celia Leung, an organiser of the event, said. This year, by selling carol booklets, the carolling raised nearly HK$4,000 for Operation Santa Claus, the annual fund-raising event jointly organised by the South China Morning Post and RTHK. The carollers, many of them with festive hats or reindeer headbands, piped out 17 songs, including White Christmas, Frosty the Snowman and Jingle Bells. Bodies swayed to Deck the Halls. Children who did not know all the songs enjoyed them nonetheless, dancing and clapping along. Angela Cheung came for the first time, after hearing of the event from friends. She brought family - 15 of them occupied nearly the whole of the first row. The youngest was only three. 'We love carols. It makes us feel so Christmassy,' Cheung said. Jim Gardner's wife is a singer with Katterwall. Their children Jack, 8, and Thomas, 5, joined the carolling too. It was Gardner's second time carolling in Lan Kwai Fong. 'We had lots of fun last year,' he said. 'It is a nice start to Christmas for the kids.' Peter Kiddey and Linda Fastisr from New Zealand said carolling reminded them of home. 'We sing carols back home, so we sing them here too,' Kiddey said. 'It's nice and warm here and it's for charity as well.' Fastisr, a singer with the group, said she enjoyed it a lot.'Wherever there's a chance to sing, I will be there,' she said. Three pubs in Lan Kwai Fong - Rajan, Prerana and Baby Buddha - sold booklets of the carols' lyrics for Katterwall at HK$60 each. Leung hopes the annual event will raise awareness of charity needs. 'We want carolling to have a purpose,' she said. 'We're not just singing.' Help make a difference How you can give Donate online by credit card at osc.scmp.com Donations can be made by ATM or at any HSBC branches: a/c number 502-676299-001 for SCMP CHARITIES LTD - OPERATION SANTA CLAUS You can donate by cheque, payable to 'SCMP CHARITIES LTD - OPERATION SANTA CLAUS' and mailed to: Operation Santa Claus, Morning Post Centre, 22 Dai Fat Street, Tai Po Industrial Estate, New Territories, Hong Kong. Donations of HK$100 or more are tax-deductible. If you'd like a tax receipt, please send the completed donation form and original bank receipt, with your name, address and phone number, to the address above Contact us at osc@scmp.com or 2680 8159 or visit us online at osc.scmp.com