Mesa Temple Christmas lights, international nativity exhibit opens Friday
Richard Webb
Mesa Temple Christmas lights.
Posted
The grounds of the Mesa Arizona Temple will light up with Christmas spirit this year from Friday, Nov. 29, through Monday, Dec. 30.
The lights will be on each evening from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. at 101 S. LeSueur. The event is free, according to a release.
Visitors are welcome to stroll through the north lawn and gardens of the temple grounds and enjoy the hundreds of thousands of twinkling lights adorning palm and citrus trees, cacti, hedges, shrubs, and flowering beds.
In addition, there are 10 favorite biblical vignettes placed among the olive trees that help tell the Christmas story, including figures of Mary and Joseph on their way to Bethlehem, a near life-size Italian Fontanini nativity scene with a star above shining with tens of thousands of twinkling lights, and three lighted wisemen with camels. Each area has a stand that identifies the biblical story and special QR codes so visitors can use their cell phones to access additional videos and information for these scenes depicted.
Thousands of volunteers make this community event possible, which started in 1979 and has become a holiday tradition for many who come each year to enjoy the Christmas lights and feel the spirit of peace in these historic gardens, the release states.
The Mesa Arizona Temple, dedicated in 1927, was the first temple built in Arizona by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The 20-acre temple grounds are home to a wide variety of vegetation as well as two reflection pools and has long been a landmark in the East Valley.
During the Christmas season, the adjacent Mesa Temple Visitors’ Center hosts the annual International Nativity Exhibit. This event is also free to attend. View hundreds of unique nativity scenes from around the world and enjoy the Christmas story through inspiring works of art — many which are handmade. The nativity display runs the same dates as the Christmas lights event and is open 5-10 p.m. each evening with daytime viewing 11 a.m.-1 p.m. on Tuesdays/Thursdays at the Visitors’ Center, 455 E. Main St., which is just west of the temple grounds on the corner of LeSueur and Main Street. Free parking is available nearby.
