Las Posadas

Mexican shepherds dressed in serapes and sombreros seek shelter in one home after another, only to be turned away. Finally they find posada , or lodging, and rejoice amid songs, treats and a pinata.

Welcome to Las Posadas, the series of processions traditionally staged in Mexico between Dec. 16 and 24 to depict the biblical story of Joseph and Mary’s search for shelter at the time of Christ’s birth.

This year, the Olvera Street Merchants Assn. is staging processions and other festivities nightly through Christmas Eve. Las Posadas get under way each evening at 7 with “La Pastorela,” a Nativity play by the group Teatro Synegria at the Methodist Church on Olvera Street just north of Arcadia Street. The processions begin at 8 in front of the Avila Adobe Museum. Children dressed as angels and parents dressed as shepherds are turned away from two homes before being accepted by a third.

After the procession, children break a pinata in front of the church and everyone celebrates the coming Christmas holiday.

“Ultimately, it is the triumph of good over evil,” said Nadine Trujillo, project director for the Olvera Street Merchants Assn. “That has been the story line of Las Posadas since the 16th Century.”

The annual celebration has been staged every year since the association was founded in 1930, Trujillo said. The public is encouraged to take part in the processions, which are co-sponsored by Bank of America.