IT TURNS out the secret ingredient to the best gravy isn't tomato sauce, it's being surrounded by friends and family and love.
That's what a crowd of hundreds learned on December 21 as they gathered in Wheeler Place to spread Christmas cheer and pay homage to the date that's become known in Australia as "Gravy Day".
It's a reference to Paul Kelly's iconic song How to Make Gravy.
The crowd danced, donning green and red, as tutors for the One Song Sing event taught them step by step how to belt out the song - interwoven with Christmas carols - in just one hour from 5.30pm to 6.30pm.
Cooks Hill's John Mansfield was at the City of Newcastle event on Thursday with three generations of his family.
"It's a great family gathering for Christmas," Mr Mansfield said.
"It was really nice," granddaughter Mia Kelly, 12, added.
They agreed they were probably going to have How to Make Gravy stuck in their heads for a while, but they were okay with that.
Jane Jelbart of The Sum of the Parts, the business behind the evening, said the sing along was a special one.
"I almost cried," she said.
"When we first heard the chorus and all the parts coming together, I almost cried.
"The human voice just takes it and all these beautiful, joyous people just sing their hearts out, I had to really pinch myself."
Ms Jelbart said Christmas could also be a hard time for many and it was a chance for them to come and sing their hearts out.
"This song is so important to so many Australians," she said.
Paul Kelly's 1996 song How to Make Gravy is a Christmas institution in Australia, written from the view of a prisoner writing to his family.
"It's the 21st of December, and now they're ringing the last bells," the passionate Newcastle crowd sang.
"Who's gonna make the gravy now? I bet it won't taste the same."
The four conductors led four singing groups through their roles, with everyone having a turn at singing lyrics, backed by a live band.
The crowd might not have been packed with trained singers but the end result was a musical masterpiece - a harmonised rendition of How to Make Gravy with other Christmas carols, such as Jingle Bells.
City of Newcastle was anticipating up to 1200 people to attend.
