You won't fit this lot around a manger: Almost 300 people create huge nativity scene
By Jill Reilly
Last updated at 1:45 AM on 19th December 2011
Hundreds of people dressed as angels, shepherds and wisemen as they attempted to break the world record for the largest living nativity scene.
An impressive 298 adults and young children wore fancy dress for the record bid, which finished with a parade and Christmas carols.
The youngest participant, who played Jesus, was just six months old. The oldest members of the group were grandparents in their seventies.
All together now: An impressive 298 adults and young children gathered together wearing fancy dress to try and break the world record for largest living nativity scene
But others bought or hired professional outfits, including angel wings and shepherds crooks, in Southampton, Hants.
Event organiser Sammy Jordan, from the city's Highfield Church, said they failed to break the current record of 567 but will try again next year.
Good fun: Although they didn't manage to break the world record, everyone seemed to be in high spirits anyway
Dressed up: Some parents raided their kitchen drawers and wardrobes to make headdresses out of tea towels and king's robes out of dressing gowns
Happy: Families sang Christmas carols and celebrated with a drink and mince pies
Young: Eight month old Nathaniel was one of the young participants, although the youngest was a six month old baby who played Jesus, the oldest were grandparents in their seventies
The mother-of-two, 40, said: 'The costumes were fantastic and it really did look like a massive living nativity scene.
'People were incredibly resourceful and made costumes from all sorts of materials and objects from their homes.
'One of my friends described it as looking like a walking haberdashery.
'We had dozens of Marys, Josephs and kings and even a couple of 'sheep' wearing fleeces and fluffy earmuffs.
'The record bid was a great way to generate some excitement in the local community and to remind people of the true meaning of Christmas.'
Christmas cheer: The organisers said the record attempt was a 'generate some excitement in the local community and to remind people of the true meaning of Christmas'
Procession: The event included a parade through the city and ended at Portswood Church, Southampton
Sammy said she was not allowed to wear fancy dress for the event due to Guinness World Record regulations.
She added: 'Unfortunately, we did not break the record but everybody had a great time and I think we will come back stronger next year.'
The event, which took place on Saturday, included a parade through the city and ended at Portswood Church, Southampton.
Families sang Christmas carols and celebrated with a drink and mince pies.
The gathering of a large crowd to celebrated Christmas was replicated in Frome, Somerset, where 161 Santas donned diving gear to take part in a charity event for the RNLI.
Hundreds of onlookers watched the surreal site of the crowd plunging into a quarry pool at less than eight degrees Celsius dressed in full Scuba diving kit.
Taking the plunge: 161 diving enthusiasts took to the waters today while dressed in Santa uniforms to raise money for the RNLI
Fundraiser: This year's dive is in aid of the charity's campaign to raise money to provide the 35 lifeboat stations in the south west of England with new state-of-the-art lifejackets
Kitting up: The site of divers dressed in Santa uniform while wearing full diving gear made for a surreal spectacle for those who gathered to watch
Divers from all over the country gathered at Vobster Quay, near the town to raise money for the RNLI's SOS Day next month.
This year's dive is in aid of the charity's lifejacket campaign, which is raising funds to provide the 35 lifeboat stations in the south west of England with new state-of-the-art lifejackets.
Organisers believe they will have raised around £10,000 for the charity.
Tim Clements, operations manager at Vobster Quay, said: "The idea is to get as many divers in the water at the same time.
'It's gone exceptionally well and we've had 161 divers in the water all at once and we're hoping we will have raised £10,000 for the RNLI.
'We're very pleased to have beaten the record of 158 divers two years ago.
'We measured the temperature at the surface it was 9.4 degrees Celsius but at 20 metres where the divers are it is more like 7.8 degrees Celsius.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2075757/You-wont-fit-lot-manger-Almost-300-people-create-huge-nativity-scene.html#ixzz1gwkq7K3c
