Spectacular Christmas light displays from around the world

12 December 2023

Regent Street, London Christmas lights — Image caption,
Regent Street's angel lights in London are world famous. The display consists of 300,000 low-energy twinkling LED lights, and provide an amazing sight during the festive season

It's that time of year when towns and cities all over the world light up their busiest shopping streets with stunning light displays to help spread Christmas cheer.

Months of preparation, hours of installation and thousands of bulbs and miles of electrical cable go into making these central districts feel festive.

Here are a few of the most twinkly displays from around the world.

You can let us know in the comments which ones are your favourites.

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There is certainly a royal theme to these lights in Windsor, in the UK. The town, just outside London is home to Windsor Castle, one of the King's official residences

An image of Santa Claus is projected on the Rochers-de-Naye mountain on the sidelines of the Montreux Christmas market, in Haut de Caux near Montreux, Switzerland, 06 December 2023. The figure is projected from a distance of 2300 meters and covers a surface of over 28000 square meters, a world record according to the author of the project Swiss light artist Gerry Hofstetter.

EPA

How's this for scale. An image of Father Christmas is projected on the Rochers de Naye mountain near Montreux, Switzerland. The projector itself sits around 2,300 metres away from the mountain face and covers a surface of about 28,000 square metres

EPA

Selfie moment - this amazing canopy of flowers is situated in New Taipei City, Taiwan. Christmas is not widely celebrated as a religious festival in Taiwan, but many young Taiwanese like to mark the occasion by having a special dinner or giving gifts to their friends

A star is seen atop the Christmas Tree during the Rockefeller Center's annual lighting ceremony in New York

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You might already have settled in to watch 91�ȱ� Alone 2 this festive season, in which case you might recognise the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree in New York. We can just hear the music now

EPA

The Christmas Wonderland Festival at Gardens by the Bay in Singapore in south-east Asia features a 20-metre-tall Spalliera - meaning a decorated backboard mounted on a wall, inspired by the Mesola Castle in north Italy's province of Ferrara. The whole display is made up of a whopping 103,000 bulbs

People stroll past Christmas lights and decorations at the outdoor Christmas market at Humboldt Forum in central Berlin, Germany

Reuters

German Christmas markets are world famous, and this one in Berlin, Germany looks particularly inviting. Bratwurst anyone?

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