Christmas

=== Nativity play ===

{{Main|Nativity play}}
[[File:Childrens Nativity Play 2007.jpg|thumb|Children in Oklahoma reenact a [[Nativity play]]]]
For the Christian celebration of Christmas, the viewing of the [[Nativity play]] is one of the oldest Christmastime traditions, with the first reenactment of the [[Nativity of Jesus]] taking place in 1223 AD in the Italian town of [[Greccio]].<ref name="Collins2010">{{cite book |last1=Collins |first1=Ace |title=Stories Behind the Great Traditions of Christmas |date=2010 |publisher=Zondervan |isbn=978-0-310-87388-4 |pages=139–141}}</ref> In that year, [[Francis of Assisi]] assembled a [[Nativity scene]] outside of his church in Italy and children sung Christmas carols celebrating the birth of Jesus.<ref name="Collins2010"/> Each year, this grew larger and people travelled from afar to see Francis's depiction of the Nativity of Jesus that came to feature drama and music.<ref name="Collins2010"/> Nativity plays eventually spread throughout all of Europe, where they remain popular. Christmas Eve and Christmas Day church services often came to feature Nativity plays, as did schools and theatres.<ref name="Collins2010"/> In France, Germany, Mexico and Spain, Nativity plays are often reenacted outdoors in the streets.<ref name="Collins2010"/>