Mesa Arizona Temple Holiday Lights

For more than four decades, the lighting of the Mesa Arizona Temple gardens has been a favorite holiday tradition in the Valley. The free event features thousands of twinkling lights and a variety of displays designed to tell the story of Christ’s birth, including a large outdoor crèche underneath a lighted star and other Biblical vignettes, including a shepherd’s field, Mary and Joseph figurines, the prophet Isaiah, and three lighted wise men with their camels. Since 1979, this has become one of the largest Christmas lighting displays in the Southwest, recently drawing over a million visitors. The lights are on every night, 5-10 p.m., from Friday, Nov. 28, through Tuesday, Dec. 30, on the north lawn of the Mesa Arizona Temple, 101 S. LeSueur, in downtown Mesa. Free parking is available nearby.

A unique display of more than 150 nativities designed from everything from peanuts to porcelain and around the world is also hosted inside the Mesa Temple Visitors’ Center, 455 E. Main (across the street from the Mesa Arizona Temple). The event is free and open 5-10 p.m. from Nov. 28 to Dec. 30, and 11 a.m. -1 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays during those dates. For more information, call 480-964-7164 or visit www.mesatemple.org.