St Ippolyts Church’s Nativity Crib Festival kicks off Advent

There were more nativity cribs than ever at St Ippolyts Church’s annual festival over the weekend.

There were 190 crib scenes this time – up from about 150 last year – with an almost global reach, with sets from South Africa, Burma, Peru and many other countries.

The festival in the village church near Hitchin was well attended on both Saturday and Sunday, with a new attraction this year being a full-size Christmas scene outside where visitors could dress as nativity characters.

Barbara Thomas, one of the organising team, told the Comet: “One of the high points is the wonderful stories of cribs that are part of families’ Christmas traditions – especially those that have been owned for years and ‘adapted’ to cope with misfortune.

“The fabulous outdoor living nativity gave fun to loads of children – and, last but not least, we had the cakes and the cheese scones!”

Submissions for next year’s festival were already coming in over the weekend. Email barbara.thomas@live.co.uk if you’d like to put in a crib next time.