“It Happened in Belén”, the successful live nativity scene that the Brotherhood of Soledad has been celebrating for nineteen years and which – in addition to being the oldest in the province – is the largest event in the city and the event of choice of thousands of people each … Year for Christmas opening. It is a traveling show whose location is in the historic center of Alcalá del Río, a fact that makes it unique in this type of performance. From Mariana Pineda Square to Calvario Square, a more than 1-kilometre-long itinerary (fully accessible and easy to navigate) takes the viewer to experience everything from the angel Gabriel’s annunciation to Mary to the Three Wise Men’s worship of baby Jesus.
Between the two scenes, in the living room More than 8,000 square meters of streets and squares inhabited by the people of AlcalaThere will be a market, Mary will visit her cousin Elizabeth to tell her the news of her pregnancy; The dream in which an angel visited Joseph and made him undertake the divine designs, and the road to Bethlehem for the holy couple to undertake the task of recording.
Solean Weapons will place the system in queue to an administrator who has to take the data to complete the log. After fulfilling the legal obligation, José and María will search in vain for an inn, and will be forced to stay in a gatehouse in the Plaza del Calvario. The preordained destiny of the Messiah who will be born surrounded by the Hebrew Solians who sing and dance in joy at his arrival.
While the shepherds – who spend the night next to the flock in the surroundings transformed into a natural environment with a river and a bridge – will receive the news of the birth of Jesus Christ, Herod will meet in his palace with the Magi from the East, who follow a star in search of the child that God made. And when, in pursuit of the star, they succeed in finding the place, the celestial courts sing a hallelujah as they place gold, frankincense, and myrrh on their plants, thus concluding this dazzling act.
More than 500 brothers participate in the representation
More than 500 hymns bring life to this general education, which will take place in 93 passages, distributed according to time periods, during December 6, 7 and 8. Its date, already set for the December long weekend, means that “An Event in Bethlehem” marks the unofficial opening of the Christmas holiday.
So that the acting is smooth, and as a matter of curiosity, in the cast there are 4 Solianas responsible for representing the Virgin Mary, three solo actors who do the same with Saint Joseph, there are 6 Wise Men from the East (although, at the same time, and as is consistent with tradition, there are only 3 on stage) and 8 children – 7 boys and 1 girl – of about one year of age who will give life to the child Jesus throughout the performances.
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Days: December 6, 7 and 8
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93 jobs
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Timings: Saturday 6, from 11:45 am to 2:00 pm. And from 4:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.; Sunday 7 from 12:00 noon to 2:00 pm. And from 3:50 p.m. until 9:30 p.m., and on Monday 8 from 12:00 p.m. Until 2:00 p.m. And from 3:30 p.m. Until 6:00 pm
Presales of tickets continue until December 5 at ventas.lasoledad.org. On this site you can see schedules for the 93 scheduled shows and which tickets are still available. Although there will also be tickets at the box office on performance days, the organization recommends advance purchase to avoid queues and waiting. And if you have to face it, the typical Christmas (and Easter) sweets made by the Soledad sisters and Christmas carols from the choirs of bell ringers will add lovely flavor and liven up the wait.
With the approval of their majority and the more than 10,000 people who visit annually – a similar number of spectators to the city’s population – Soledad will once again play Alcalá del Río Belén this weekend.