The small village of San Lawrenz is this year celebrating the 50th anniversary of its Christmas pageant, held annually on Christmas Eve.

The pageant has evolved during the years taking a prominent place in Gozo’s Christmas festival season.

Organised and presented by the San Lawrenz Drama Circle, the pageant reenacts the Biblical history of the salvation of mankind, leading to the birth of Christ.

The timeless story is unfolded in a spectacular and interesting way, while refreshing spectators’ knowledge of the scriptures, so often, ironically, left out of the Christmas context.

More than 150 actors, dressed in Biblical costumes, are involved in diverse presentations of the story, such as tableaux, parades, and other dramatic performances, starting from the parish hall, right into the village’s piazza, and round the two main streets of the village.

The San Lawrenz Christmas pageant, the brain-child of George Borg, a 19-year-old from San Lawrenz, had a very humble beginning. It all started in 1968, when Mr Borg, backed by enthusiastic Drama Circle members, proposed and enacted, for the first time in Gozo, the story of the birth of Jesus by parading through the streets of San Lawrenz a handful of actors dressed up in Biblical costumes.

The first pageant ended in the parish hall, where the three wise men presented their gifts to Baby Jesus, and a small boy delivered the traditional Christmas Eve sermon.

Mr Borg and his companions never looked back and spared no effort to improve the performance through the years.

The present organisers of the pageant are making sure that this year’s event will be as spectacular as in previous years, introducing innovative arrangements to enhance the show.

This year’s pageant is being held on December 23 from 6pm.

This activity is supported by the Gozo Ministry for Gozo.