The bottom floor of the First Presbyterian Church in Marietta will be transformed into the little town of Bethlehem Saturday evening during the church's first "Night in Bethlehem" event.
A scribe, a beggar and a baker are just a few of the characters who will interact with event attendees throughout the evening. The event will be held from 6 to 8:30 p.m. at the church on the corner of Fourth and Wooster streets.
Lydia Donnelly, director of the program, said the event is free and open to the public.
"People can come and go whenever they like," she said.
Donnelly noted that about 30 volunteers from the church are involved in the event.
"It's a marketplace, and we're recreating Bethlehem on the night Jesus was born," she said. "We'll have people in biblical costumes, and we'll have the young family of Nazareth who just gave birth to their child."
Fact Box
If you go:
What: "A Night in Bethlehem."
When: 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Saturday.
Where: First Presbyterian Church on the corner of Fourth and Wooster streets in Marietta.
Who: Free and open to the public.
Donnelly added that the marketplace will feature weaving, pottery, a bakery, a candy store, crafts and authentic food from Biblical times.
"With the bakery and candy, a lot will be happening during the event; people will smell that when they come in," she said.
Kathryn Hartline, a planner for the marketplace, said the volunteers have been busy practicing for Saturday evening's program.
"Each person will have their own individual craft, and we've rehearsed what lines they're going to say because they're going to tell the story of what it was like when Mary and Joesph were there," she said.
Donnelly said the idea for "A Night in Bethlehem" came from Group Publishing Inc., the company from which the church gets its vacation Bible school materials.
"We thought we'd do something that would involve everybody, not just the kids, but the entire congregation and the community," she said.
