^ Lighting up the season ^

[YouthFul]

At the end of the year, many parts of the world are brightened by glittering displays. Holidays and festivals bring people out at night for a visual treat and interiors are bathed in festive lights. Life is made more colorful for a variety of celebrations.
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Two young children inspect a giant Menorah in the port of Tel Aviv, Israel, Nov. 27. Hanukkah is known as the Festival of Lights and Feast of Dedication.


Nelson Teiler takes a photograph of the lights as he came out to watch as the Temple Square lights turned on for the first time for the 2013 season on Nov. 29, in Salt Lake City.


Tourists visit the traditional Christkindelsmaerik (Christ Child market) near Strasbourg Cathedral Nov. 29. Held annually since 1570, Strasbourg's Christ Child Market, known as the oldest French Christmas market, will be held until December 31.


Shoppers stop at stalls to browse the offerings at the Bath Christmas Market on its opening night on on Nov. 28, in Bath, England. Originating in Germany, Christmas markets have become increasingly popular in British cities too, as a way of boosting festive retail sales and visitor numbers.


City council workers install Christmas lights in Africa Unity square, Harare, Nov. 29. Harare City Council has begun installing Christmas decorations across the city as part of the upcoming festive season.


A light show is projected onto Brussels' Town Hall as part of Christmas events at the Grand-Place in Brussels, Nov. 29.




The illuminated tram of Debrecen Transport Ltd. on Kossuth Square in Debrecen, Hungary will run during the Christmas season from Advent to Epyphany.



rees illuminated by Christmas lights are reflected in a puddle on Unter den Linden street near the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin Nov. 30.


Off-roaders with their sand rails, bikes and quads light up the night at the Oldsmobile Hill sand dune in Glamis, California, Nov. 29. More than 150,000 people came out to the sand dunes of Glamis in the Imperial Dunes county of southern California for the annual Thanksgiving Weekend gathering. Photo taken with a five-minute exposure.


An Israeli fisherman casts his fishing rod to Hayarkon river, against a backdrop of large menorah lights, lit by the Israel Electric company to celebrate the last day of the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Dec. 4.


Fireworks explode during the lighting ceremony for Rio de Janeiro's famed floating Christmas tree in Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas on Nov. 30, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The constructed tree is the largest floating Christmas tree in the world according to the Guinness Book of World Records.


Climbers Daniel Arnold and Stephan Siegrist collaborated with climbing photographer Thomas Senf’s and Swiss mountain sports manufacturer Mammut to create unique mystical atmosphere images on the Eidfjord in northern Norway, using coloured flares, spotlights and headlamps. Eidfjord , three hours east of the city of Bergen, is famous for the large number of icefalls (frozen waterfalls) at over 500 metres (1,640 ft) long. "Photography and filming at night is a big challenge," says Senf. "The right lighting determines whether you succeed or fail."


"Pas Encore Mon Histoire" by Vincent Olinet from France floats in the Red Light District as part of the Amsterdam Light Festival in Amsterdam Dec. 6. The fifth Amsterdam Light Festival, is a winter light festival showcasing some 30 light sculptures and projections by international artists


People walk in the Light Labyrinth in the Wilanow Palace Garden in Warsaw, Poland, Dec. 6. The Labyrinth, made of over 150,000 color lamps and based on themes from "Alice in Wonderland" is a winter attraction for children.


Children play during the opening ceremony of Christmas season at the main square of Bogota, Colombia, Nov. 29. The Mayor of Bogota, Gustavo Petro, inaugurated officially the Christmas season with million of light bulbs in different parts of the city


eople enjoy Christmas illuminations featuring the theme of "Christmas in the sea" in Tokyo's Shiodome on Dec. 7.


The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree is lit Dec. 4, in New York.


People walk along the Christmas Fair with Christmas stars and a Ferris wheel, left, in Erfurt, central Germany, Nov. 27. The Erfurt Christmas Market is one of the most beautiful Christmas Markets in the whole of Germany, according to critics, with the square beautifully decorated with a huge candle-lit Christmas tree and a large hand-carved wooden creche.



Festivities are underway at the Dam square in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Nov. 21, during the Turn on the Lights, the kick-off of the holiday season of the Dutch department store de Bijenkorf.


Hindu devotees light oil lamps at a temple for the Hindu God Shiva during the "Karthigai Deepam" in Bangalore on Dec. 2.