Photos: Christmas Around the World

Alan Taylor
December 26, 2019
30 Photos
In Focus

One last look at this year’s holiday festivities, featuring images of both secular and holy celebrations from China, Kenya, Mexico, Pakistan, England, India, Japan, the U.S., and many other places.

Hints: View this page full screen. Skip to the next and previous photo by typing j/k or ←/→.

An Indonesian Christian girl stands near candles during Christmas Eve Mass at Ganjuran Catholic church in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, on December 24, 2019. Christmas is a national holiday in Indonesia, despite only eight percent of the population's identifying as Christian. #

Ulet Ifansasti / Getty

Read more
People walk on a bridge over the Naviglio Grande canal that was decorated with Christmas lights, in Milan, Italy, on December 23, 2019. #

Luca Bruno / AP

Read more
Street performer Thomas Liberto from Bel Air, Maryland, who goes by the social-media name "Mr. Christmas Tree," makes his way around Midtown Manhattan on December 19, 2019. #

Timothy A. Clary / AFP / Getty

Read more
Guatemalan municipal firefighter Hector Chacon, dressed as Santa Claus, arrives to deliver presents to children after descending from a bridge on a cable, in Guatemala City, on December 22, 2019. #

Orlando Estrada / AFP / Getty

Read more
Puppeteers rehearse a Christmas nativity show at the Royal Toone Theatre in central Brussels, Belgium, on December 19, 2019. #

Francois Lenoir / Reuters

Read more
A "dunking Santa" is airborne for a shot, after using a trampoline to get the height, during a time-out in the second half of an NBA basketball game between the New York Knicks and the Washington Wizards in New York, on December 23, 2019. #

Kathy Willens / AP

Read more
Christian faithful of the Legio Maria of African Church Mission attend the Christmas Eve Vigil Mass in their church in the Fort Jesus area of Nairobi, Kenya, on December 25, 2019. #

Thomas Mukoya / Reuters

Read more
A woman kisses the hand of a giant baby Jesus statue in preparation for Christmas Eve in Mexico City, on December 23, 2019. #

Marco Ugarte / AP

Read more
Amateur actors perform during the live nativity scene set in the Postojna Cave in Postojna, Slovenia, on December 25, 2019. #

Jure Makovec / AFP / Getty

Read more
A woman wearing a Santa hat surfs at Bondi Beach on December 25, 2019, in Sydney, Australia. December is one of the hottest months of the year across Australia, with Christmas Day traditionally involving a trip to the beach and celebrations outdoors. #

Mark Evans / Getty

Read more
A reindeer made up of illuminated drones, with the Cunard ship Queen Elizabeth in the background, is photographed in Melbourne, Australia, on December 22, 2019. #

James D. Morgan / Getty for Cunard

Read more
Pakistani Christians attend midnight services at St. Anthony's Church to celebrate Christmas in Lahore, Pakistan, on December 24, 2019. #

K.M. Chaudary / AP

Read more
Christians hold lit candles during a Christmas Eve prayer at a church in Surabaya, East Java, on December 24, 2019. #

Juni Kriswanto / AFP / Getty

Read more
A boy looks at Christmas lights at a shopping center in Bangkok, Thailand, on December 24, 2019. #

Soe Zeya Tun / Reuters

Read more
Lithuanian Christians watch the procession before a Christmas Mass at the Cathedral-Basilica in Vilnius, Lithuania, on December 24, 2019. #

Mindaugas Kulbis / AP

Read more
Salvadorans enjoy Christmas lights in a park on December 20, 2019, in San Salvador, El Salvador. #

Alex Pena / Anadolu Agency / Getty

Read more
Iraqi children climb in the back of a three-wheeled motorcycle driven by a man dressed as Santa Claus and distributing gifts, in a run-down neighborhood in the city of Najaf, on December 19, 2019. #

Haidar Hamdani / AFP / Getty

Read more
A woman adjusts her hat as she poses for pictures in front of a Virgin Mary statue at Xishiku Cathedral, a government-sanctioned Catholic church, on Christmas Eve in Beijing, China, on December 24, 2019. #

Florence Lo / Reuters

Read more
Belarusian students from cadet schools take part in a Christmas Ball in Minsk, Belarus, on December 23, 2019. #

Vasily Fedosenko / Reuters

Read more
A swimmer passes swans as he takes a dip in the Serpentine River before the annual Christmas Day Peter Pan Cup handicap race in Hyde Park in London, England, on December 25, 2019. #

Hannah Mckay / Reuters

Read more
Workers dressed as Santa Claus parade around Marunouchi business district to promote the area in Tokyo, Japan, on December 23, 2019. #

Issei Kato / Reuters

Read more
People jump into the sea from a helicopter, during the 10th annual Surfing Santas event in Cocoa Beach, Florida, on December 24, 2019. #

Handout via Reuters

Read more
Participants are seen during the 10th annual Surfing Santas event in Cocoa Beach, Florida, on December 24, 2019. #

Florida's Space Coast Office of Tourism via Reuters

Read more
Paulo Ramirez, 64, blows on a fire at his farm in Jalpan de Serra, state of Querétaro, Mexico, on December 20, 2019. About 1,500 families departed from the Texan border city of Laredo, in a yearly caravan made up of Mexican immigrants and Americans of Mexican origin, to return to Mexico for their Christmas holidays, driving cars laden with new clothes, perfumes, and other Christmas presents. #

Daniel Becerril / Reuters

Read more
A Syrian woman dressed as Santa Claus gives gifts to children at the Gawelan refugee camp, west of Erbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq, on December 26, 2019. #

Safin Hamed / AFP / Getty

Read more
A girl kisses a figure of the baby Jesus at a church during Christmas celebrations in Ahmedabad, India, on December 25, 2019. #

Amit Dave / Reuters

Read more
Mountain climbers in Santa Claus suits pose during an event to promote safe climbing and Christmas charity in Seoul, South Korea, on December 22, 2019. #

Ahn Young-joon / AP

Read more
Iraqi Christians gather around a fire as they attend a Mass on Christmas Eve at the Grand Immaculate Church in al-Hamdaniya, near Mosul, Iraq, on December 24, 2019. #

Abdullah Rashid / Reuters

Read more
The Rosier family celebrates Christmas with a traditional opening of presents on Christmas morning, December 25, 2019, in Brooklyn, New York. #

Andrew Lichtenstein / Corbis via Getty

Read more
A cat rests among presents and wrapping paper as the Rosier family celebrates Christmas in Brooklyn on December 25, 2019. #

Andrew Lichtenstein / Corbis via Getty

Read more