Christmas around the world 2022

The holiday season, for most people, is all about togetherness and good cheer with the ones you hold dearest to your heart – and around the world, festive celebrations are lighting up churches, homes, communities and more. From arctic plunges to popping bottles, take a look at holiday wonder leading into Christmas Day 2022 in all corners of the world.

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Brian Dickie, dressed as Santa Claus, rides his bike through the wintery streets of Carleton Place, Ontario, Christmas Eve, Saturday, Dec. 24, 2022. A major winter storm system continues to affect eastern Ontario. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press via AP)

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People walk past a Christmas tree decorated for Christmas and the New Year festivities in Mariupol, in Russian-controlled Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine, Saturday, Dec. 24, 2022. (AP Photo)

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People enjoy the sunny weather wearing in a Santa Claus hats at the Lake Hollywood Park in Los Angeles Saturday, Dec. 24, 2022. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

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Brian Martinez, from North Hollywood, dressed in a Santa Claus costume, plays with his son, Braxon, 4, at Lake Hollywood Park in Los Angeles on Saturday, Dec. 24, 2022. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

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The acting Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Pierbattista Pizzaballa leads a Christmas midnight Mass at the Church of the Nativity compound in the West Bank town of Bethlehem Sunday, Dec. 25, 2022. (Ahmad Gharabli/Pool Photo via AP)

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Egyptian Catholic worshiper Nihal Allam lights candles during a Christmas Eve Mass at Saint Joseph’s Catholic Church in Cairo, Egypt, late Saturday, Dec. 24, 2022. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)

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Members of the Kyiv Opera Theater perform the “Christmas in Shelter” concert, on a stage underground in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, Dec. 24, 2022. (AP Photo/Renata Brito)

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People prepare to release lanterns during a Christmas gathering at a central square of Athens, on Saturday, Dec. 24, 2022. (AP Photo/Yorgos Karahalis)

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People release lanterns during a Christmas gathering at a central square of Athens, on Saturday, Dec. 24, 2022. (AP Photo/Yorgos Karahalis)

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People tour a Christmas Market at Town Hall square in Tallinn, Estonia, Saturday, Dec. 24, 2022. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin)

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A man dressed as Santa Claus lights flares as he stands on a boat in Imperia, near Genoa, Italy, Saturday, Dec. 24, 2022. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

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Family members pose for a photo by a Christmas tree on Christmas Eve in Tokyo, Saturday, Dec. 24, 2022. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

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A woman and a man pose for their selfie by a Christmas tree on Christmas Eve in Tokyo, Saturday, Dec. 24, 2022. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

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Women take a selfie picture in front the crib decorated on the eve of Christmas at a church in Hyderabad, India, Saturday, Dec. 24, 2022. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

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People light candles outside the Sacred Heart Cathedral on Christmas Eve in New Delhi, India, Saturday, Dec. 24, 2022. Though the Hindus and Muslims comprise majority of the population in India, Christmas is a national holiday celebrated with much fanfare. (AP Photo/Bhumika Saraswati)

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A girl selling Christmas souvenirs waits for buyers in Mumbai, India, Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2022. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

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Worshippers light candles during a Christmas Eve service at Immanuel Church in Jakarta, Indonesia, Saturday, Dec. 24, 2022. (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim)

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Enthusiasts from the long-established swimming club Les Ours Blancs (The Polar Bears) participate in a Christmas swim race in the Atlantic ocean, where the water temperature is 14 degrees Celsius (57.2 Farhenheit) in Biarritz, southwestern France, Saturday, Dec. 24, 2022. Some 100 swimmers took part in the annual celebration swim. (AP Photo/Bob Edme)

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South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, fourth from right, and volunteers clad in Santa Claus costumes throw their hats in the air during a Christmas charity event before they deliver gifts for the underprivileged in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, Dec. 24, 2022. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

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Catholics take part in a “posada,” a Christmas ritual re-enactment of Mary and Joseph’s search for a lodging in Bethlehem, in the Escuela de Cristo neighborhood in Antigua, Guatemala, Friday, Dec. 23, 2022. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

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Homeowner Frank Mangano, left, and holiday decorator Francesco Buscema, arrange the Christmas display at Mangano’s Dyker Heights, Brooklyn, New York City home on Tuesday, December 20, 2022. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey)

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Children walk inside a Christmas tree at Lisbon’s downtown Comercio Square, Thursday, Dec. 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Armando Franca)

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The owner of a lottery administration celebrates the sale of one of the lottery tickets known as “El Gordo,” or The Fat One, sold in his store in Madrid, Spain, Thursday, Dec. 22, 2022. Spain has kicked off the festive period with one of its most iconic events: the huge Christmas lottery, known as “El Gordo,” or The Fat One. The most sought-after prize shells out 400,000 euros ($425,000), or some 325,000 euros after tax, to winning holders of 20-euro tickets, known as “décimos.” (AP Photo/Paul White)

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Visitors take selfies with an aquarist inside a tank, dressed as Santa Claus, at the AquaRio aquarium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2022. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado)

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A woman poses for a picture in front of Christmas decorations in Warsaw, Poland, Monday, Dec. 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Michal Dyjuk)

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Parents and children practice sled on a plastic slide at the Paris’ Hotel de Ville townhall illuminated and decorated with its Christmas lightings, in Paris, Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2022. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

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Actors dressed as Ded Moroz, Grandfather Frost, the Russian Santa Claus and Snow Maiden stand near a horse in St. Petersburg, Russia, Sunday, Dec. 18, 2022. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)

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A runner wearing glasses that read in Spanish: “Merry Christmas,” attends a race called the Santa Claus Run in Caracas, Venezuela, Sunday, Dec. 18, 2022. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

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Catholics pray during the first of nine daily dawn Masses before Christmas day at the St. Joseph Parish Church in Las Pinas city, Philippines on Friday, Dec. 16, 2022. Filipinos attend nine consecutive dawn Masses before Christmas as part of traditional Filipino practice in this largely Roman Catholic nation as COVID restrictions eased in the country. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

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Street vendors prepare Christmas trees for sale on a street corner in Harare, Zimbabwe, Tuesday, Dec. 21, 2022. A buoyant holiday mood is not lifting the country which is coping with widespread power outages and the world’s highest food inflation. (AP Photo)

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A Star Wars’ Wookie warrior hands out gifts during a holiday event organized by the “Vida Nueva”, or New Life foundation that works to help former sex workers and victims of violence, in Bogota, Colombia, Thursday, Dec. 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)

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Issa Kassissieh, dressed as Santa Claus, rides a camel named Joy in the Old City of Jerusalem, ahead of the Christmas holiday, Thursday, Dec. 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)

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Christians attend midnight Christmas mass at St. Andrews Church, in Karachi, Pakistan, Sunday, Dec. 25, 2022. (AP Photo/Fareed Khan)

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The annual holiday light display illuminates the City/County Building late Saturday, Dec. 24, 2022, in downtown Denver. The building will be illuminated each night until late January. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

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Children from the Elimu project Kenya Entertain residence of Kibera slums as they perform ballet during the Christmas Eve holiday, Saturday, Dec. 24 2022. (AP Photo/Samson Otieno)

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Britain’s Prince George and Princess Charlotte during the ‘Together at Christmas’ Carol Service at Westminster Abbey in London Thursday, Dec. 15, 2022. (Yui Mok/Pool via AP)

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A woman touches the head of a Baby Jesus statue during a Christmas Eve Mass, at La Merced Catholic church in Panama City, Saturday, Dec. 24, 2022. (AP Photo/Arnulfo Franco)

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Iraqi Christians attend a Christmas Eve mass at the at the Sacred Heart Church of the Syriac Catholics in Basra, Iraq, Saturday, Dec. 24, 2022. (AP Photo/Nabil al-Jurani)

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Lithuanian Christians attend the Christmas celebration midnight Mass at the St. Trinity Church in a village Linkmenys, some 110 km (68 miles) northeast of the capital Vilnius, Lithuania, on Saturday, Dec. 24, 2022. Over 80 percent of Lithuanians are Christians who celebrate the festival of Christmas on Dec. 25. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis)

Dana Sukontarak

Dana Sukontarak is a Digital Writer/Editor for WTOP.com. She loves haiku poetry, short sci-fi stories and word games. She grew up in Prince George’s County, Maryland, and currently lives in Silver Spring.