by Rebecca Hannant
Valley Gardens in Withernsea is to host an outdoor nativity play featuring real animals this Christmas.
On December 4, Withernsea Churches Together will host the event, which will depict four separate scenes, beginning with the appearance of the angels before Mary and Joseph, who will then take their donkey off to Bethlehem.
Angels will next appear to the shepherds in the fields outside Bethlehem. Meanwhile, the audience will gather around Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, and the baby Jesus in the stable. Finally, the Three Wise Men will arrive after their long journey from the east on their horses.
Organiser Rev Philip West said: “The first outdoor nativity was held in 1223 in Italy. It was the brainchild of St Francis, who loved animals and gathered a donkey and an ox to make a stable scene outside the town of Greccio in the Rieti valley.
“He made the scene so real to the people who gathered round that eyewitnesses said they really believed they were in Bethlehem. The baby Francis placed in the manger was probably a doll.
“At our nativity play in Valley Gardens, we are hoping to have a real baby play the part of Jesus, as well as the real animals that will be joining us. The play started on a hillside parish overlooking Sheffield about 30 years ago and is still performed there annually.
“We brought it to Easington three years ago, and people were still as moved as they were in Greccio all those centuries ago.”
The story will unfold on Wednesday, December 4, starting at 6.30pm, and is free to all. Refreshments will be available, and there will also be carol singing.
Rev West added: “It is a Withernsea Churches Together event supported by volunteers from Withernsea and the surrounding villages. People are coming together to get involved in acting, stewarding, making costumes, and providing music, publicity, and scenery.”
For more details, or to offer support, contact Rev West at [email protected] or 01964 603199.