Photos: Rebounding from Covid, people prepare for Christmas festivities

Citizens across the globe prepare to welcome Christmas after a two year Covid hiatus. While celebrations took centre stage in many nations, those in Ukraine, currently engaged in military tensions with Russia, may not be able to celebrate anything this Christmas. Meanwhile, the biblical town of Bethlehem marked what was shaping up to be a merry Christmas on Saturday, with thousands of visitors expected to descend upon the traditional birthplace of Jesus as it rebounds from the coronavirus pandemic. Here is a look at some moments from Christmas preparations underway across the world.

Published on: Dec 24, 2022 8:02 PM IST

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Fans of German soccer club 1. FC Union Berlin are seen gathered at the 'Stadion An der Alten Foersterei' stadium to sing traditional Christmas carols together, after a two-year break due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in Berlin, Germany, on December 23.  (Annegret Hilse / Reuters)

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Dancers are seen performing in front of a Merry Christmas sign on the eve of the Christmas celebration on Los Proceres boulevard in Caracas on December 23. (Yuri Cortez / AFP)

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Member of the vintage car group Hiroyuki Wada, dressed as Santa Claus, poses with a child in his 1959 Cadillac in Hibiya district of Tokyo on December 24. (Yuichi Yamazaki / AFP)

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People gather around a Christmas tree decorated with the colors of the Ukrainian national flag at Sophia square in Kyiv, on December 23.  (Felipe Dana / AP)

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Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, is seen leaving for his long Christmas journey from the Santa's Village at the Arctic Circle in Finnish Lapland in Rovaniemi, Finland, on December 23. (Jouni Porsanger / Lehtikuva / AP)

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A man is seen praying during a Christmas Eve service at a cathedral in Denpasar, Bali, on December 24. (Firdia Lisnawati / AP)

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People are seen near the Christmas tree decorated for Christmas and the New Year festivities in Luhansk, on December 23. (AP)

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A man in a Spider-man costume is seen wearing a Santa Claus hat ahead of Christmas at Zocalo Square in Mexico City, on December 23.  (Raquel Cunha / Reuters)

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A bus passes in front of a solar-powered Christmas tree in Piazza Venezia in Rome, Italy, on December 23.  (Guglielmo Mangiapane / Reuters)

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Clergy members are seen at Christmas celebrations, with the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Pierbattista Pizzaballa, in Bethlehem, on December 24.  (Mohamad Torokman / Reuters)

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People visit the Christmas fair set up at the Zocalo square in Mexico City, on December 23. (Pedro Pardo / AFP)

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Bathers are seen at the traditional Christmas Swim organised since 1929 by "Les Ours blancs" (polar bears) association at the beach of Port Vieux in Biarritz, southwestern France, on December 24.  (Gaiza Iroz / AFP)

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People with umbrellas are seen standing at the Roemerberg square on a rainy day with a Christmas tree in Frankfurt, on December 23.  (Michael Probst / AP)

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School students are seen dancing with Santa Claus at Anand Vishwa Gurukul School, in Thane, India, on December 24.  (Praful Gangurde / HT )

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A diver wearing a Santa Claus costume is seen swimming with a school of fish to welcome the upcoming Christmas at the Sea Life Bangkok Ocean World aquarium in Bangkok,  on December 24..  (Athit Perawongmetha / Reuters)