How Is The Nativity Scene Set Up In Barcelona
LEARN TO SET UP YOUR CHRISTMAS NATIVITY SCENE:
Setting up a Nativity scene set is a Christmas tradition that children love: Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without Nativity scenes (pessebre in Catalan or belén in Spanish)!
Families will set it up a couple of weeks before Christmas, and the whole process of setting it up will keep the kids entertained for at least a whole afternoon (even a day, if you take them to the Christmas market first). In today’s post you’ll learn how to set up your own.
THIS IS HOW TO MAKE A NATIVITY SCENE:
1
Go Shopping
2
Choose a place to set up your Nativity scene
Back home, pick a place of honor for your Christmas nativity scene. It can be an auxiliary table against a wall, a mid-high shelf, the top of a chest of drawers… Free it from anything you keep on top and cover it with some old newspapers to protect it.
3
Arrange the setting
4
Set up the Cave Scene and the shepherds
The Baby Jesus goes inside the Stable, in the center with Mary and Joseph to his sides, and right behind must go the bull and the mule. Then hang the angel on the edge of the rooftop, and arrange some figures of shepherds in front of the Stable, worshiping the Baby Jesus.
You can then display the rest along the path, as if they were on their way to the Stable. If you also bought an Annunciation set (tree with angel, shepherds and bonfire), find a place for them over the moss not too close to the stable. Extra points if you got little figures of animals such as sheep, poultry or cows to go with your shepherds.
5
The Three Wise Men
Your Nativity scene set isn’t made just to be looked at: you have to interact with it too! And this is where the Three Wise Men come into action: Every day you must move them one step closer to the Stable, so that they arrive there on January 6th, the Epiphany Day.
AND BONUS! What about the Caganer? Is there really a Pooping Man?
6
The Caganer (Pooping Man)
But we Catalans are naughty, so when we have guests, our kids always challenge them to find the hidden pooping-man of our Christmas Nativity set! It’s a silly kids game, but it’s funny…As a final touch, use thyme branches as trees, flour as snow… At the Christmas market you can also find extra items such as a bridge for your river, a well and houses to place on top of the “mountains”.
Coming to Barcelona for Christmas? Click here to discover where to see a life size Nativity scene set in Barcelona as well as other local traditions.
Have fun setting up your Nativity scene set!
Marta
Marta is the founder of ForeverBarcelona. She is a passionate tour guide that loves Barcelona and loves writing too. She is the main author of our Blog, and is committed to sharing her knowledge about Barcelona and her best tips with our readers.
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Last update on 2024-04-18 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
