After a two-year break caused by the Covid pandemic, Eastleigh Baptist Church’s much-loved interactive Nativity Experience is back. Bigger and better than before –with an additional and exciting attraction.
The body of the church will be transformed to take visitors on a journey through different stages of the Christmas story. The layout has been inspired by the ancient tradition of a labyrinth that takes a person on a contemplative and reflective spiritual journey. The maze at the top of Winchester’s St Catherine’s Hill was possibly an example.
Starting in a 21st century Christmas living room, the doors open to take us back to biblical times and the wise men’s lodgings. From there, we walk through Mary’s home and Herod’s Palace to finally arrive at the Bethlehem Stable. On the way we meet characters from the nativity story – you may need to remember that Herod was a puppet king!
The design and attention to detail of the sets is truly amazing; it’s hard to imagine that behind it all is a church building. A video of the 2019 experience can be found here, and I’ve added some more photos below.
The Nativity Experience will be open from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm on Saturday 19th November, as part of the town centre’s Christmas Light switch on celebrations (remembering that if you take the Christ out of Christmas, all you are left with is M & S). No booking is necessary; entry is free; and visitors will receive a small gift (while stocks last). There will also be craft activities for children in the church hall, and the Wells Place Coffee Shop will be selling a range of drinks, cakes and brunch items.
You could also visit the Eastleigh Baptist Church stall in the High Street, to collect a wrapped package (empty!) as an optional “entry ticket”. This is always a big hit with the children – the smallest children always want the largest boxes.
But it doesn’t end there! The Nativity Experience will be open for the rest of the week for pre-booked visits from local primary schools and nurseries.
In the evenings (and all day on Sunday 20th) it will become a Christmas-themed Escape Room, where teams will need to solve a number of puzzles to crack the codes to find their way out. This is also free of charge, but booking is required – book at Eastleigh Baptist Church’s website
Mrs Chippy and I were part of the puzzle-test team last week. Even given the fact they this was a table-top exercise, rather than in-situ, this was great fun. In fact, we’re slightly regretting that as we’ve solved the puzzles, we can’t take part in the actual escape room – though we might get the fun of watching others try! I’m not going to give away any spoilers but will say that the puzzles were challenging but solvable – even if we followed some quite extraordinary red herrings a couple of times.
Thank you for sharing this, Chippy. I have been to the Nativity Experience before and it was really enjoyable! I can imagine Eastleigh town centre will be buzzing with excitement next week.
Sounds great, Chippy. I hope all who go have a wonderful time. Loved your thought about only being left with M&S if you take Christ out of Christmas.