The Christmas Number 1!

The people of Calne are celebrating this week after breaking a Guinness World Record – for the largest nativity play ever. A whopping 1,254 people took part in the event on Saturday night – smashing by more than 200 the previous record set by the much larger city of Provo in the American state of Utah.

The event was organised by the Bible Society and Calne Town Council and supported by local churches as well as townspeople of every faith and no faith.

The Revd Robert Kenway, Team Rector of the Marden Vale Benefice which includes St Mary’s in Calne Town Centre said,

“It has been wonderful how the people of Calne and the surrounding villages have been enthused by this project.

“A couple of years ago Calne’s annual light-switch on for Christmas was known simply as ‘a Winter Festival’. It’s brilliant that the word ‘Christmas’ has been reclaimed, and the Nativity story given star billing!”

The Telegraph reports that “with less than an hour to go until the record attempt, organisers realised they were still around 100 sheets short, prompting a desperate dash around houses on the town’s Green asking residents to rifle through their laundry cupboards to meet the shortage.”

Paul Williams, chief executive of the Bible Society, said: “People of faith; no faith and other faiths turned up tonight to celebrate the original Christmas story from the Bible.

“They had great fun; broke the world record and, we hope, brought the Bible to life.

“We hope people were reminded where the story came from and what it means to millions of Christians across the globe.”