One of the featured highlights of this year’s festival includes more than 25 different sets of Nativity scenes from Iowa resident Diane Lage’s 5,000-piece Fontanini collection. (Photo courtesy of Peoria Area Community Festival of Nativities)

Celebrating the spirit of the upcoming holiday season, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will open its doors to the public for the eighth annual Peoria Area Community Festival of Nativities from Nov. 30 through Dec. 3.

“O Holy Night,” the theme of this year’s event, honors the 800th anniversary of the first live reenactment of Jesus Christ’s birth, held in 1223, in Greccio, Italy. The festival offers visitors an opportunity to tour an outdoor, live Nativity scene from 4:30-6:30 p.m. Nov. 30, as well as an indoor display — featuring more than 750 nativities from around the world — from 3-9 p.m. Nov. 30; 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Dec. 1; and noon to 6 p.m. Dec. 3.

The fest also includes a 50-piece, German-handcrafted Nativity scene, on loan from St. Mary’s Cathedral, where it has resided since the early 1930s. (Photo courtesy of Peoria Area Community Festival of Nativities)

The church is located at 3700 W. Reservoir Boulevard. Admission is free, and area musicians and vocalists will provide holiday music each day of the event.

Festival of Nativities chairperson Ruth Thompson said the event got its start in 2015, after Latter-day Saints church member Shelly Crespo learned about a high school in Indiana that was prohibited from displaying a Nativity scene.

“She thought we could do something here to express our beliefs,” Thompson explained. “She had seen Nativity exhibits in other states, and how beautiful they were, so she got together with people from other churches and garnered a lot of support. People started loaning their nativities, and then she developed a relationship with the Sisters of St. Francis of the Immaculate Conception (in West Peoria), who are well-known for their charity work in the area.”

That led to a Christmas ornament charity project conducted with the Sisters of St. Francis, and yet another idea from Crespo: a community festival award to recognize individuals or groups that make meaningful contributions to the community through selfless acts of service. The first recipients of the “Light the World” award were none other than the Sisters of St. Francis.

“Five of the sisters came to receive the award, and they were pleased to see how the festival was done, so they brought others to see it,” Thompson said. “The following year, we opened it to anyone. Now we have six co-sponsoring churches, and so many people from the community who volunteer — over 200 people in all.”

Co-sponsoring churches include Holy Family and St. Vincent de Paul Catholic churches; All Saints Greek Orthodox Church; Peoria Heights Congregational Church; and Mount Hawley Community Church.

“I love building relationships,” Thompson said. “When people work together, everybody works together in peace and unity. That’s what we feel with the festival. We experience the love of the artisans’ work, but also all who work to put this together. Unity is the center of what we do.”

Featured highlights of this year’s festival include more than 25 different sets of Nativity scenes from Iowa resident Diane Lage’s 5,000-piece Fontanini collection; 60 scenes from the collection of the late Betsy Christensen; a 30-piece Hummel Nativity scene from the collection of Nauvoo resident Peggy Dewey; and various pieces from Pekin artist Vic McDonald.

The fest also includes a 50-piece, German-handcrafted Nativity scene, on loan from St. Mary’s Cathedral, where it has resided since the early 1930s. Echoing the festival’s theme, Argentinian artist Jorge Cocco’s painting, titled “O Holy Night,” also will be featured.

“Each figure is beautifully done,” Thompson said. “We’re thrilled to display it again.”

The festival’s official opening ceremony will begin at 7 p.m., and includes presentation of this year’s “Light of the World” award winners: Loaves & Fish, a food pantry/medical clinic program established by Peoria’s First United Methodist Church; and Charles and Kelli Martin, who operate charity organization Porch Pantry Peoria.

Event parking is available at the corner of Reservoir and West Richwoods boulevards, behind the Church of Latter-day Saints. For more information, including how to lend a Nativity scene, visit www.communityfestivalofnativities.com.