I finally popped my ‘Road to Bethlehem’ Cherry!
Yes, I know, “How could you have never gone to Road to Bethlehem?”. It’s a question I get asked quite a lot during this time. And the honest answer is… “I don’t know”. It was never in the plans but after this week I’m sure to make it a yearly tradition.
So, for those that don’t know like myself beforehand. Road to Bethlehem is an outdoor walk-through theatrical presentation of the story of Jesus’s birth. Which is held at 33-61 Edinburgh Road, Lilydale in Victoria and other states hold thier own.
I decided to head up there on the Wednesday, 12 December straight after work. I met up with my youth leader as it was her second time going in that week.
I didn’t know what to expect walking into the venue and that’s the best because I came in with an open mind. We entered the venue to a waiting area filled with tables and chairs. There were little stalls to purchase different food depending on your palette. There was Indian, Mexican and other options and as expected everything was vegetarian.
There was also stalls to buy small goodies and of course activities for the kids like face painting and rock climbing. There was also a massive playground for the kids. It made you wish you were still a child because they had so many options of entertainment and the main one hadn’t even started.
The waiting area was encompassed with beautiful music played by the live orchestra which added to the glorious atmosphere. And to top it all off the place was lit up by large fairy lights which hang above our heads like perfectly placed fireflies.
Unsurprisingly, the first stall I went to was the Cherry stall where they were selling organic cherries and avocado. Of course, after that it was time to dive into the food.
Once my food was digested and I could finally walk. We got our FREE tickets and were finally off to see what this whole night was about.
It is bad to say that I was excited as a kid with a new toy when we got to the big entry doors. I was ready to see why everyone was hyping up this event. As the doors opened I felt as though we entered a whole different world. All the performances felt real, as if we had just walked into their world.
The only thing that kept reminding me that we were in the 21st century was the slang and terminology the actors were using. We were escorted throughout the Road to Bethlehem by some of the actors who guided us to the different stages of the story. One thing I absolutely loved about the whole show was the effort and dedication taken on the props and costumes. They made the whole presentation more realistic.
I found myself getting really invested in the journey. I was laughing at the corny jokes and even shuddered a little when we encountered the soldiers. The pinnacle of the whole show was seeing baby Jesus and yes, they had a real baby.
Once it was over we got to a letter garden where you were able to write a thank you notice to Jesus. As we were walking out I realised that it was all over. All that all I had been anticipating was finished. It went by way too fast.
I was already ready to go back for round two. Now I understand why so many families come more than once during the week.
Overall, I think it’s probably the best Christmas event I have been to so far. It lets young and old relive Jesus’s birth in a whole new way. It’s basically our version of a live action movie of Christ’s birth. Plus, the event is free for all and majorly kid friendly.
Next time I will definitely invite my friends as it’s a function I believe everyone should go to at least once in their life.
AUTHOR: Kapungwe Besa