The halls were decked and the gardens tidied for the Hospice Mid Canterbury's Christmas Experience 2024.

Eight houses opened their doors to ticket buyers to showcase Christmas decor ideas and get people into the holiday spirit.

Fundraiser committee member Ann-Marie Leach said Sunday’s event had sold out very fast.

“We’ve sold in excess of 350 tickets,’’ she said.

“Our [previous] highest was 320 tickets, so this is quite new territory for us to do this many.”

She expected over $28,000 had been raised for Hospice Mid Canterbury through donations and tickets, which would help improve the quality of life for those with debilitating illnesses.

“Things like massages, reiki, but also looking after the families of those people.”

It was the third Hospice Christmas tour, and Leach said it'd been relatively easy to find willing hosts.

“This year we’ve been really lucky. People have actually approached us,’’ she said.

“It’s people who’ve attended previous ones, seen it and thought, ‘oh, we can do that’.”

Fundraising committee members Barbara Redmond and Pam Williams helped decora some of the houses, clocking up 80 hours of design work.

By Anisha Satya