Do you have an official public tree?

Decorations and lights up in the streets?

Anything else? Public skating rinks,Christmas markets etc? Or are they not working this year?

Are there a lot of people out and about,or is it quieter than usual?

28 comments

  1. Here in Palermo,we have a new ‘Christmas Tree sculpture’ which has replaced the traditional real tree in the main square.

    Its metal,covered in lights,and you can walk into and under it to see it from underneath.Mixed reactions from the locals!

    We have a ‘Christmas Market’,though it is nothing like as intersting as the Central European traditional ones.

    There are lots of people around.Queues outside the shops last night.And extremely heavy traffic!

    The streets are quite heavily decorated with lights,the area around the theatre looks great in particular.

  2. We have three trees, illuminated street decorations on lamp posts (both of which are installed by my company) we also have a couple of Christmas market style stalls, usually there is an ice rink but they haven’t done it this year.

  3. Because it’s the first Christmas in over a decade with snow, it looks absolutely wonderful.

    I seriously feel like a little kid again

  4. I live in edinburgh and you wouldn’t know there’s a pandemic. Christmas markets are open, there’s an ice rink, fairground type rides, big Christmas tree on the mound. The castle is doing some sort of light show for Christmas too this year. The centre of town is busy anyway with people trying to do shopping plus you have all the tourists for Christmas.

  5. We have street’s lights and various decorations, a Christmas tree in the Main Square next to a big Nativity Scene, there’s also a small Christmas Market but nothing too fancy, and in the Main Street there are Christmas Carols played via speakers.

  6. Pretty Christmassy, I’d say. There are public Christmas trees in important places in downtown Yerevan like the Republic Square and Freedom Square. The famous pond Kanye West once jumped into during his concert has been turned into a public skating rink. Many apartments and stores have lights and other decorations. That being said, city hall decided to cancel Christmas markets and fireworks this year.

    There’s still no snow in the low-lying central part of the city. I saw a fair bit of snow earlier today when I went to a clinic located in a more mountainous suburb, and even more when I was in Gyumri, Armenia’s second largest city that’s always noticeably colder than Yerevan.

  7. it is quieter than usual as christmas markets were just for short time. there are some small improvements from last years, more decorated trams instead of special one. in overall it looks to me as usual

  8. There are lights in the formation of a star on the lamp posts in the city. Christmas markets did open but there was a lot of regulation.

    In general most houses have some kind of decorations to look at. People got these candle arches in their windows and put some light in the front yard like lights in a tree.

    Skate rings are quite rare. They take up a lot of space. I guess I’m a bit spoiled when it comes to ice skating because we got a 3km long empty field that gets flooded if the weather forecast indicates it is going to be safe to stand on. It’s pretty awesome if you can just skate and not care about someone being in your way every two meters.

  9. Usually there are elaborate lamp garlands over the roads in the town center and spruce trees attached to lamp posts, which shopkeepers can decorate themselves if they’re so inclined. This year it’s not as elaborate as usual, just lamp garlands wrapped around the lamp posts. Christmas market also cancelled.

  10. – Christmas decoration, mainly in the pedestrian zone and main street
    – Christmas tree on a square by the train station
    – No Christmas market this year, probably due to Covid
    – No ice skate rink in a tent this year on the market square, again, probably Covid related

    Instead we have a Corona test tent on the market square.

    I went to town yesterday and I thought it was quieter than usual. Just less people out than usually 1 day before Holy Eve. Still many out buying presents and whatnot last minute.

  11. Some stalls selling glühwein and carps in the pedestrian zone, two large Christmas trees (one in the middle of the pedestrian zone, one next to the city hall), Christmas lights on lampposts… nothing too fancy, my town is quite small

  12. Italy is not the best place for Christmas sadly.

    Christmas atmospheres in most if not all Italian cities south of Trento are honestly kinda meh. Winters are mostly grey, wet and boring by central/northern European standards and don’t support winter sports/outdoor activities. There is also no strong tradition when it comes to Christmas lights, decorations or manufacturing/merch – probably because winters in Italy are pretty bright with a decent amount of sunshine, so there used to be no historical need to make up for the missing light. There are some nice Christmas markets here and there but they honestly pale in comparison to the real ones from the Alps northwards. Still a catholic country tho so you’re gonna have all your usual celebrations and food traditions when it comes to the Christmas meals.

  13. Very christmassy because of snow for once, but christmassy regardless, because my town always puts loads of lights up, and if it wasn’t of covid, a lot of German tourists visit every year to see.

  14. See for yourself.

    The main square is[ pretty standard](https://i.imgur.com/CFCEBde.jpg) like every year in the last 5-10 years, but without any stalls now.

    But this year the [ice skating rink and christmas market](https://i.imgur.com/rszjqog.jpg) was moved to another, less attractive square (just minute or two of walking from main square).

    Korso ([Main pedestrian street](https://i.imgur.com/fEWBktV.jpg)) now has more room for concerts

    Because[ in previous years](https://i.imgur.com/PLjGBUX.jpg) everything was in pedestrian street, ice skating, concerts, market.

    All in all, it’s a bit smaller than before due to covid and all, but more spread out.

    I suppose it’s nice enough. It looks much shinier from the ground level.

  15. There was only a white winter for a few days, but the whole centre is still very decorated along with many houses.

  17. Yes public tree is a must, even in small villages. In my village rest of the decoration is in the center and that’s pretty much it.

    For the rest : Lockdown!

    On positive side, we got bit of snow on Christmas after like 10 years or so…

  18. It doesn’t feel like Christmas at all, but it definitely feels like winter thanks to some snow finally. Why doesn’t it feel like Christmas? Well, my town’s government is AGAINST trees. More than 5 years ago the main street was full of trees from the beginning to the end and some Christmas lights would be put on them. But there are no trees anymore. Okay, there are some but it’s so little that you barely see any. And because of that there’s no place to put the Christmas lights on anymore. There is an official city Christmas tree but it’s invisible to me, it certainly doesn’t attract attention. Apart from that, no Christmas markets now or ever. But it’s definitely quieter than usual, I finished work at 14 and there were only a few people out in the town.

  19. Christmas is very big here in Helsinki. Every shop you visit has Christmas themes and sells a lot of Christmas stuff. The city has Christmas lights on the streets in the City Center, you can see Santas everywhere. No surprise that Christmas is very big here, we have a lot of traditions, we get a lot of snow and of course Santa Claus lives here 🙂

  20. I’ve not really been into my local town this year or last due to covid. My local town in Durham. Newcastle used to be brilliant at Christmas, esp the legendary Fenwicks window display.

    I’ve not been into Newcastle for almost 2 years.

  21. Ridicously pretty with some new snow the night before and -10C and sunny during the day(we celebrate eve). Driving home from the celebrations every home, house or apartment, isdecorated withour kind of lightning, just yellowish lights. Some few people do the tivoli thing, but quite few. Most do it stylish.

  22. I live in Acharnes, Greece ( one of the oldest Greek cities- 12km from Athens)

    For the very first time, we have an extremely beautiful decoration. You can find blue lights LEDs everywhere in the town hall, christmas trees with white LEDs, large halos built from LEDs that you can walk inside on them, a small train and carouzel for kids to play, a Santa Claus full of LEDs and his small house where kids can go for some activities.
    Extremely beautiful, wishing for better days without covid (or covid only as an epidemic🥲) for the next year..

  24. Very much so, but the best is all the windows. 99% of people put a 7-armed advent candle in the window, and then an advent star hanging over it. Walking around Stockholm at night seeing all the windows is just the best feeling ever.

  25. My city, Cork, goes big on the Christmas lights. Tons of lights all along the main street (St Patrick’s Street), light display in the little park in the city centre, giant tree of remembrance (a Christmas tree where you write the name of a loved one who has passed on a ribbon and they tie it to the tree) on the main street, and there’s also a crib. There’s lights on streets other than St Patrick’s Street, but the ones on Patrick’s Street are the most impressive.

    There’s also the Share collectors. A bunch of teenagers in high vis jackets with little buckets collecting money for a charity called Share, I can’t explain why this feels festive but it does. I guess it’s our equivalent of the American charity collection people with the bells? It just feels festive to see them around. And they give you a little sticker when you donate.

    There also tends to be some Christmas music played by the buskers around town. Or the people who sell art prints on Patricks Street will be playing it from a speaker.

    The city centre also goes from a relatively quiet, chill city centre to an absolutely packed one the week before Christmas, which somehow enhances the festivity because it’s never quite busy enough to be annoying while walking around. (Shop queues due to covid capacity limits are not fun though…)

  27. I hear that the usual decorations are in place, but given the pandemic situation I haven’t seen them.

  28. There are lots of Christmas decorations. They are usually kept until today, Epiphany/Day of the Kings.

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