Witnessing the Miracle Thousands Flock to Mormon Miracle Pageant in Manti

By: Cami Cox

With a population of just 3,040 as of the 2000 census, Sanpete's county seat may be a little place, but every year Manti attracts thousands of visitors from all over the country and even the world.

Both members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and those not of that faith come by the busload, carload and minivan-load to view the Mormon Miracle Pageant, a dramatization of LDS historical events with the vast Manti temple lawn as its stage and the temple itself for a backdrop. This year's pageant, free to all visitors, opened June 14 and will conclude June 23.

A significant part of the pageant experience is the city of Manti itself. Downtown Manti is like so many out-of-the-way Utah towns that haven't yet hit their growth spurts (and hopefully never will, or where would we Southern Utahns go to escape the city for awhile?).

There's something so sweet and refreshing about strolling down a shop-lined street that still looks much the same as it did 50 years ago. Indeed, Manti's main thoroughfare doesn't seem to have changed much since I was a little kid growing up in nearby Fayette, Utah, (although the bakery and drive-through on Main Street does look like it's had a paint job since then).

Revisiting a city that was so much a part of my childhood as I traveled to Manti for the Mormon Miracle Pageant June 16 was like opening a door to the past.

I had found out from a good friend of mine a couple of weeks ago that some local singles were taking a day trip to Manti to visit the temple there and watch the pageant. Thoughts of visiting Manti, its temple and the nearby towns bring a tickle to my stomach that most people probably get when they think of Disneyland or other slightly more exotic destinations.

I guess it's all in what a person remembers and what connects one to one's childhood. For me, though I only lived in that part of Utah for about two years of my life, the memories of being in Manti and the other little towns around it are so vivid and real that it's literally like jumping back into my childhood skin for a while to be there.

Suffice it to say, the opportunity to roll on up to Manti was appealing enough to entice me out of my bed on a Saturday morning, along with the about 70 others going on the same trip. We piled into two buses around 9 a.m. and left St. George and the gathering heat far behind.

The last time I went to Manti's annual pageant, I was about five years old. I remember sitting down on a blanket with my family as it started getting dark overhead. I watched an angel visit the young prophet Joseph Smith in the pageant's early scenes.

My memory then skips to waking up and sleepily stumbling in the dark from the temple grounds to the car (well, I was a little kid, so someone probably carried me). So I didn't quite make it all the way through the Manti pageant that first year I went. I fared better this time – I waited till the bus ride home to fall asleep.
When I was a kid, the Manti pageant was primarily a sitting-on-the-grass affair. This year, it was surprising to see about 14,000 chairs covering the temple grounds, with only a small area off to the side for blanket sitting. I guess that's a sign of the pageant getting more sophisticated and endeavoring to better accommodate those who come.

In all, according to information given out at the pageant, 70,000 to 100,000 people attend during all the nights combined, with the busiest night seeing about 30,000 audience members. In addition to the filled seats at the temple, blankets and lawn chairs dotted yards and lots surrounding the temple the night I was there, and attendees also lined the sidewalks to watch the pageant.

There is something about the Mormon Miracle Pageant that draws audiences back every year. For an event with very humble beginnings (the first pageant played to an audience of about 2,000 in July of 1967, in the midst of a storm at the Sanpete County fairgrounds), the modern-day pageant showcases breathtakingly-detailed scenery and costumes.

Whether or not one is of the LDS faith, the story of the early Utah pioneers, LDS historical figures and residents of the ancient Americas seems to have quite a draw. Many in attendance at the Mormon Miracle Pageant were not of the LDS faith.

Others belonging to that church (some of whom were on the trip with me) were seeing the pageant for the first time. Many others had been there multiple times, and there were even some Manti residents who had never attended the pageant before this year.

The total experience of visiting quaint Manti and seeing the historical accounts of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, depicted on the temple lawn under a canopy of stars is well worth a tank of gas. The pageant didn't conclude until after 11 p.m., so a word to the wise would be arranging overnight accommodations (although we hearty young singles rode home through the night, arriving into St. George at about 3 a.m.).