The traditional 12th performance of the live nativity scene, the largest and most famous in Croatia, takes place on the feast of St. Stjepan in Sveti Lovreč in Istria, making that medieval place briefly become a kind of little Bethlehem.
It is an event that includes a hundred extras, the Holy Family, the Three Kings/Wise Men, old craft demonstrators, shepherds, the Roman army and angels.
Every year the organizers of the event use for the role of Holy Family one of the actual young families from St. Lovreča or the surrounding area.
In addition to the feast of St. Stephen, the live nativity scene in that Istrian municipality will also take place on January 6, the feast of the Three Kings. During the sightseeing, visitors can refresh themselves with hot drinks, fresh bread and cakes, and at the same time visit the appropriate Christmas fair, the photo exhibition in the "Placa" gallery, and all this while the impressive old town center, intimately lit, can be heard singing choirs with appropriate repertoire.
"As always, a special Christmas story awaits you, based on the greatest story ever told", they say from Sveti Lovreč, a medieval Istrian town that is the perfect backdrop for the staging of the birth of baby Jesus, depictions of the people and activities of those ancient times, the works of human hands, the animals that accompanied them and kept them alive.
The organizer tries to renew these performances every year, trying to attract the interest of new and old visitors with new interesting details from the ancient past. In addition to the reenactment of the Holy Family, during the tour of the living nativity scene, visitors will also encounter many, now forgotten, old crafts, they can see up close numerous domestic animals, the skills of the housewives of that time, see how trade was once done, writing and how children had fun.
The locals of Sv. Lovreč and the surrounding area, that is, the volunteers, who have been intensively preparing the infrastructure for this event for more than a month, always want to convey to the guests a breath of the past in the time we live in now.
