‘Quiet time’
Corrales festival features Nativity scenes from NM, rest of world
Step away from the hustle and bustle of the holidays for some calm and quiet reflection during the Festival of Nativities. The event, presented by the Corrales Historical Society, features about 160 types of Nativity scenes and crèches from around the world at the Old Historic San Ysidro Church in Corrales. The size of the scenes ranges from 1 inch tall to 5 feet tall.
“It’s just beautiful,” said Susan Cahill, president of the Corrales Historical Society. “What we like about it, the historical society, is it shows you how visually displayed people think about a Christmas story, how they might tell the story, how their culture, their background, come into how they display the story of Christmas or the Nativity.”
The event features Nativity scenes from all over the state. There’s a number of them that feature the pueblos and the Hispanic art culture in New Mexico. There are Nativities that were purchased in Europe, Africa, China and Australia. There’s a couple Australian ones with kangaroos in them, according to Cahill.
“It’s just a quiet time,” Cahill said. “You come and take out a few hours from the busy time and you come and just reflect and enjoy it. Marvel at some of the work that goes into these Nativities and how creative people are all over the world representing the story of Christmas.”
In addition to the Festival of Nativities, the church is decked out in holiday decor with trees and poinsettias. Visitors can purchase poinsettias for themselves or as a donation to the elderly in Sandoval County. The poinsettias were purchased from ARCA, which grows them every year in greenhouses in Corrales. Proceeds benefit the organization which helps people with intellectual, developmental and cognitive disabilities.
“One of the things we do is our visitors can purchase a poinsettia, and the Monday after the show it will be delivered to the Sandoval County Senior Center,” Cahill said. “They will be delivering to a lot of their senior shut-ins that don’t have families here. Of course, they can buy one for themselves too, but we’re trying to share a little bit more of the Christmas spirit, if you will, with some of the people that basically don’t have a lot of family anymore or around here. It brightens your heart to see that red poinsettia come in.”