Modesto’s Community Nativity Festival starts Friday

If you’ve seen one Nativity scene, you most definitely have not seen them all.

The crèches on display at the Community Nativity Festival, now in its 11th year, have grown in number and variety, said David White, president of the Modesto Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which hosts the annual event.

“People will see a whole variety, which really express the local cultures and artistic traditions,” he said of the 300-plus scenes from around the world. “One from Africa will be a lot different than one from the Orient. A few are classic Nativity scenes, and there are large ones, small ones, quite a variety.”

Typically, scenes are displayed with a small card bearing the name of the owner and a little background information. If visitors have questions, docents will be on hand to help, White said. The number of scenes displayed has roughly doubled over the past few years and continues to grow, he said. “We’ve had to be a little clever on how we utilize our space.”

The free festival, which includes musical performances, begins its three-day run Friday at the LDS church at 731 El Vista Ave., between Scenic and Edgebrook. Hours are 3 to 8 p.m. each day.

Last year, about 2,000 people from many faiths attended the festival. “About half the Nativity scenes come from LDS families, and the other half from friends not of our faith,” White said. “We’ve reached out to the community, and the last couple of years we’ve had more coming from people not of our faith, and that makes us excited because we really wanted it to be a community festival. … Most of the performing groups are not from the church, and we enjoy that as well.”

Ongoing live entertainment includes performances by the Davis High School Musical Ensemble, Modesto Junior College Woodwind Ensemble, Central Valley Youth Harp Ensemble, Golden Valley Chorus barbershop harmony society, Advent Herald Handbells, St. Joseph’s Catholic Church Ensemble and Heart Strings Celtic Harp Ensemble.

For more, visit www.modestonativity.blogspot.com.

This story was originally published December 3, 2015 at 12:51 PM with the headline "Modesto’s Community Nativity Festival starts Friday."