THE wooden pews of St Luke's Anglican Church were reunited with their leafy cousins at the launch of the Toowoomba Christmas Tree Festival on Saturday.

A forest of ornately decorated trees sprung from every nook and cranny of the church, drawing a steady stream of pint-sized merrymakers and their obliging parents.

Festival chairman Stephen Buckley said 63 different churches, community groups and individuals had entered their Christmas creations into the display.

"I couldn't be more pleased with the number of people coming through the church," he said. "The Christmas Tree Festival is becoming one of the 'to do' things in Toowoomba.

"In the past four years, we've made $23,000 for chaplaincy in Toowoomba.

"It's been growing every year, so we hope to beat last year's effort of $9000."

Saturday's launch coincided with the Toowoomba Handmade Market outside the church.

Mr Buckley said he hoped the bauble-loaded spectacle would encourage parents to tell their children "the real story of Christmas".

"It's not just about Santa Claus or the pagan symbol of the Christmas tree - there's a real message behind it," he said.

Trees of all shapes and sizes started arriving a week ago.

"The whole week leading up to now has been a hive of activity," Mr Buckley said.

"We never know what is going to arrive until the last minute.

"Then we have to organise places for everything."

The festival display will be on show until Wednesday, December 14 with orchestra performances and special services held at 12.30pm and 7pm each day.

"The work that's gone into some of these trees has to be seen to be believed," Mr Buckley said.