It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Alan Taylor
December 17, 2019
28 Photos
In Focus

With barely more than a week left until Christmas, lighted displays, colorful markets, and Santa’s helpers are out in force. From Europe to the Americas and Asia, gathered here as an early gift is a collection of holiday cheer and light wrapped up in 28 photographs.

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Santa Claus hugs a child during a Christmas fair in Bucharest, Romania, on December 13, 2019. Hundreds of children waited in line with their parents to meet Santa Claus and receive a lollipop at the fair in the Romanian capital. #

Vadim Ghirda / AP

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A wintry mix of sleet and snow falls on the U.S. Capitol and its Christmas tree on December 16, 2019, in Washington, D.C. #

Mark Wilson / Getty

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Dressed in Santa Claus costumes, students of the Austrian-Hungarian European School warm up for the traditional Santa Run in Budapest on December 8, 2019. #

Attila Kisbenedek / AFP / Getty

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People gaze at an illuminated Christmas tree at Marlene-Dietrich-Platz square in Berlin, Germany, on December 1, 2019. #

Fabrizio Bensch / Reuters

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Carlos Bahia, dressed as Santa Claus, surfs at the Maresias beach in São Sebastião, Brazil, on December 15, 2019. #

Amanda Perobelli / Reuters

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People take pictures of the Christmas and New Year's light installations in Gorky Park in Moscow on December 14, 2019. #

Dimitar Dilkoff / AFP / Getty

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An artisan prepares a giant, polystyrene Santa Claus face at a roadside workshop ahead of Christmas celebrations in Kolkata, India, on December 12, 2019. #

Rupak De Chowdhuri / Reuters

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Hundreds of people stroll around the Christmas market in Frankfurt, Germany, on December 14, 2019. #

Michael Probst / AP

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The president of the Burned Children Care Foundation (APROQUEN), Vivian Pellas (left), gives a Christmas gift to a youngster at the Vivian Pellas Hospital in Managua, Nicaragua, on December 12, 2019. #

Inti Ocon / AFP / Getty

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People dress up as Santa Claus at SantaCon in Times Square in New York, on December 14, 2019. #

Tayfun Coskun / Anadolu Agency / Getty

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A bearded reveler takes part in SantaCon in New York's Times Square on December 14, 2019. #

Eduardo Munoz / Reuters

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Co-owners attend the Christmas party organized at the Château de la Mothe-Chandeniers in Les Trois-Moutiers, France, on December 7, 2019. #

Stephane Mahe / Reuters

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A huge Santa Claus stands in a shopping mall to welcome Christmas in Shanghai, China, on December 10, 2019. #

TPG / Getty

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A woman carries her Christmas tree at De Hoge Veluwe National Park in Otterlo, Netherlands, on December 7, 2019. #

Piroschka Van De Wouw / Reuters

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A child in a Santa Claus costume is photographed as people gather around an illuminated Christmas tree in Gaza City, Gaza, on December 3, 2019. #

Mustafa Hassona / Anadolu Agency / Getty

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Filipinos enjoy the Christmas decor and holiday lights displayed at the residence of businessman Alexander Cruz in Cainta, Philippines, on December 15, 2019. #

Iya Forbes / AP

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Skiers dressed up as Santa Claus ride a ski lift during the annual Santa Sunday charity skiing event at Sunday River Ski Resort, in Newry, Maine, on December 8, 2019. Money raised goes towards The River Fund, a nonprofit organization that supports youth education and recreation. #

Joseph Prezioso / AFP / Getty

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Runners dressed as Santa take part in the "Christmas Corrida Race" on the streets of Issy-les-Moulineaux, outside Paris, on December 15, 2019. #

Christophe Ena / AP

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Pedestrians walk past a man clad in a giant Santa Claus outfit outside a shopping mall in Kuala Lumpur on December 11, 2019. #

Mohd Rasfan / AFP / Getty

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A man lifts a child near decorative lights at a Christmas fair in Bucharest, Romania, on December 13, 2019. #

Vadim Ghirda / AP

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A couple looks at a map on a street decorated with Christmas lights in the Roppongi district of Tokyo, Japan, on December 8, 2019. #

Jae C. Hong / AP

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Asim, a Sumatran tiger, smells the food placed in Christmas boxes at London Zoo in London, England, on December 16, 2019. #

Toby Melville / Reuters

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Runners wearing swimsuits and Santa hats take part in a charity run on December 15, 2019, in the center of Budapest. #

Attila Kisbenedek / AFP / Getty

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A motorcyclist dressed as Santa Claus repairs a headlight during the 22nd Berlin Christmas Biketour on December 14, 2019, in Berlin, Germany. Around 100 motorcyclists dressed as Santa, reindeer, and angels rode motorcycles decorated with Christmas lights across the city in an annual fundraiser for the needy. #

Adam Berry / Getty

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A participant dressed as the Grinch takes part in the annual race known as "The Santa Run México" in Mexico City, Mexico, on December 15, 2019. #

Henry Romero / Reuters

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People gather at Marqués de Larios street, decorated with Christmas lights, in downtown Málaga, Spain, on November 29, 2019. #

Jon Nazca / Reuters

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Participants use a bonfire to light their rondeles (rolled wicker mats, soaked in oil) during the procession of the Divina Pastora on December 12, 2019, on the eve of the feast of Santa Lucia, in Casarabonela, near Málaga, Spain. This tradition comes from an old procession performed by olive oil millers, who carried their wicker baskets in flames, as an act of thanksgiving to the Holy Shepherdess (Virgin Mary) for the harvest obtained and to mark the start of the Christmas celebration. #

Daniel Perez Garcia-Santos / Getty

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A diver dressed as Santa Claus swims with fish at Sunshine Aquarium in Tokyo on December 13, 2019. #

Kazuhiro Nogi / AFP / Getty

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