Grand-Place to host wooden nativity scene from southern France

The nativity scene on the Grand-Place this Christmas will be made of carved wood, a year after the square's faceless fabric figures caused an outcry.

The 11 life-size figures are being made by students at the Lycée des Métiers d'Art in Coarraze, near Pau in the Béarn region of south-west France. The stable is being built by the Compagnons du Tour de France in Anglet, to a design by a Basque architect.

Béarn and the Basque Country are this year's guest region at Winter Wonders, and the crib will go up when the Christmas market opens on 27 November.

Alongside Mary, Joseph, the baby Jesus, a shepherd, an angel and the three wise men, the scene includes three figures with a local flavour: Olentzero, a charcoal burner from Basque folklore who brings presents at Christmas, a rag-and-bone man from Béarn and a Brussels grease seller.

There was no time to carve an ox or a donkey, the school's director, Jean-Sébastien Abboud, told Bruzz. "Only the faces are very detailed," he said.

According to DH, some of the figures are up to two metres tall, and one of the wise men wears a beret.

The project cost €38,000. It is meant to return to the Grand-Place for the next three editions of Winter Wonders.

Last year's scene, Étoffes de la Nativité by artist Victoria-Maria Geyer, cost €58,000 and was supposed to stay for at least five years.

Its figures, made from recycled fabric and with no faces, divided opinion from the day it was installed, and the head of the baby Jesus was stolen within days.

In June, Geyer said the reaction online had been so violent that she did not want the work shown in public again. It has since been given to the church of Notre-Dame du Bon Secours, near Place Fontainas, and mayor Philippe Close (PS) announced a replacement for the square.

The team in Coarraze is aware of what it is taking on. "We hope our nativity scene will be better received than the last one," Abboud said.

Woodwork teacher Guirao admitted the commission had caused some stress, adding: "We have no desire to end up  in a storm, but for our students this was a great opportunity."