The spirit of Christmas in Corpus Christi doesn't end when the last gifts are put away. Christmas spills over into the cool, quiet days of early January when First Christian Church stages its gift of pageantry to the communities of South Texas. The 21st Annual Boar's Head and Yule Log Festival will be presented in Corpus Christi this season on January 8th and 9th.

The heavy tread of the Beefeaters....a tiny sprite slowly moves through the silent darkness...companies of knights bear the symbolic boar's head to the altar... So begins this ancient Renaissance festival, possibly the oldest continuing festival of the Christmas season.

This tale was first told during a feast at Oxford to celebrate a student's victory over a wild and raging boar. The present day festival results from an amalgamation of several antique celebrations turned into a procession of dances and music joining traditions of Old England with the Christian joy at the birth of Christ.

Over 180 people in authentic Renaissance costumes will play a part in the hour-long pageant as they recreate a medieval manor house celebrating this legend that unfolds in energy and momentum to a dramatic and symbolic finale. A chorus and orchestra of 50 (employing some instruments of the time) provide music from the period. The audience is also invited to participate in the singing of Christmas carols during the festival. Over the past decade, the Corpus Christi Boar's Head and Yule Log Festival has become a community tradition. While admission is free, donations of non-perishable foodstuffs are accepted on behalf of the "Good King Wencelas" fund, which are donated to Food Bank. Doors open an hour before Saturday and Sunday's 5:30 and 7:30 p.m. performances in the sanctuary of First Christian Church, 3401 Santa Fe.