La Gran Pastorela tour adds Mountainair

The centuries-old Christmas tradition of La Gran Pastorela will once again take the stage across New Mexico this December, carrying forward a folk performance that predates statehood and continues to thrive through community devotion, cultural pride and grassroots preservation.

Director Sherry Armijo, who leads the adult troupe Los Pastores de Belén, said this year’s production includes six performances, with one new location added to the tour—Mountainair.

“We get invited back year after year,” Armijo said. “People tell us, ‘You make our Christmas,’ and that’s what keeps us doing it. As long as people want us, we’ll be there.”

La Gran Pastorela—often called “the shepherds play”—has deep roots in New Mexico’s rural villages. Before the arrival of television or modern entertainment, communities developed their own versions of the nativity-inspired drama, which sometimes stretched up to three hours long.

New Mexico’s isolation from Spain meant local performances continued even when the church had banned such plays elsewhere.

“It probably took forever for them to even find out they were banned,” Armijo said. “The villages loved them too much to stop.”

Armijo’s troupe uses a script traced to Las Nutrias, and all performances are in Spanish, preserving the sound and cadence of the traditional lines, songs and humor. Most cast members live in the Belén area, but several commute from Socorro each week.

Though the cast is entirely made up of amateurs, many have been performing the play for years, and Armijo said new members are always welcome for the 2026 season.

“Please tell people they’re invited to join us,” she said. “We practice every Monday night in Belén starting in October, and anyone who wants to be part of this tradition or get some free Spanish lessons is welcome.”

Armijo describes La Pastorela as “a feast for your senses,” with colorful costumes, live singing, traditional music and scenes that mix reverence, humor and community storytelling.

One of Armijo’s favorite comedic moments involves Gila, who cooks for the hungry shepherds on the llano. “They rush her like the Seven Dwarfs going to Snow White,” Armijo said. “They ask for all these fancy foods she’s definitely not cooking—tamales, buñuelos, escabeche. She just looks at them like they’re crazy.”

Socorro is also home to a youth version of the play that will take place Sunday, Dec. 7 at 11:30 a.m., also at San Miguel Parish Hall.

Teaching the play to younger generations is especially meaningful to Armijo, who once taught New Mexico culture and Spanish in Albuquerque.

All performances of La Gran Pastorela are free and open to the public. No tickets are required.

“It’s folk art,” she said. “It’s homemade, it’s heartfelt, and people still love it. That’s why we keep doing it.”

Locally, the play will run at San Miguel Parish Hall in Socorro at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 6; at Our Lady of Belén Catholic Church at 4:00 p.m. on Dec. 7; at Saint Alice Church in Mountainair at 12:00 p.m. on Dec. 12, and at Immaculate Conception Parish at 6:00 p.m. on Dec. 13.