Holiday season lights up

Trees are decorated with lights to celebrate Christmas and New Year at the Garden of Morning Calm in Gapyeong, South Korea, Dec. 23. Christmas is one of the biggest holidays in South Korea, where over half of the population is Christian.

Supporters of Berlin's soccer club 1. FC Union hold candles as they attend the annual Christmas singing at the Alte Foersterei stadium in Berlin, Dec. 23.

Snow blows through Gateway Center in Pittsburgh, Pa., with a faint view of the Highmark Unity Christmas Tree, Dec. 21.

A cat named Scooter watches a light as he relaxes in a wrapped box under a Christmas tree at a home near Roseburg, Ore.

A woman cycles past a Christmas tree outside a Catholic church in Xiliulin village near the city of Taiyuan, China, Dec. 23.

A child plays in front of a Christmas decoration resembling gifts on the Zamkowy Square in Warsaw, Poland, Dec 23.

Iraqi boys pray for peace in Iraq and Syria during Mass, Dec. 23, at Chaldean Catholic Church in Amman, Jordan.

People walk in a shopping mall decorated with Christmas lights in Berlin, Germany, Dec. 23.

Girls ring a Christmas bell at the Taipei Water museum in Taipei, Taiwan, Dec. 22.

People look at Christmas decorations at the home of Virginie and Jessy in Paillencourt, France, Dec. 23. For the past 13 years, from November 25 to January 2, home owners Virginie and Jessy have decorated their house to look like the home of Santa Claus, using 5,000 bulbs, 1,001 Christmas balls and 30 Santa Claus figurines.

Holiday lights adorn a walkway in Christopher Columbus park on the waterfront in Boston, Dec. 21.

A view of the "Casa di Babbo Natale" (Santa's house) illuminated with thousands of lights in Melegnano, outside of Milan, Italy, on Dec. 18. Massimiliano Goglio, the owner of the house, decorates his house every year at Christmastime, to wish a Merry Christmas to everyone.

Shoppers on Oxford Street, below the Christmas lights in central London, on Dec. 17. London's commercial district has been filled with Christmas shoppers just a week before the holiday.

A house decorated under the motto 'light a dream' in Mayen, western Germany, on Dec. 17. Over 11 miles of light chains, with 20,000 lights and 8 feet of cable, were needed to create the installation. The choreography is directed by a comptuer, and the house is illuminated daily between 5:30 and 8:00 p.m. The family sells mulled wine and will donate the money to a regional charity project.

The holiday lighting display at the home of Norm and Michele Rados in Olmsted Township, Ohio. Mr. Rados said it takes four to five weekends of work to finish his annual holiday display, leading up to the Sunday after Thanksgiving.

Unable to compete with neighbor Eric Cyr, Kristina Green opted to decorate her home, left, with a 450-light "Ditto" sign and an arrow pointing to Cyr's 20,000-light Christmas display, as shown on Dec. 11, in Maricopa, Ariz.

Adriana Leiss and her daughters Gabriella and Amelia replace burned-out lightbulbs on their 1965 Chevy pickup truck decorated for Christmas at their house, on Dec. 9. Their home is located on what is known as "Candy Cane Lane" in the Woodland Hills section of Los Angeles.

A firehouse along The Embarcadero in San Francisco is lit up with Christmas lights on Dec. 4. San Francisco's fireboats are also housed at the station. In the background is the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.

The lights on the Christmas tree in the central square in Gouda are switched on during the traditional candle-evening in Gouda, the Netherlands, on Dec. 11. Gouda is well-known for its candle factory.

A cyclist rides past a giant illuminated snowman displayed as part of holiday season decorations on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice, France, on Dec. 11.

An Ultra Orthodox Jewish man lights candles on the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah in Bnei Brak, near Tel Aviv, Israel, on Dec. 10.

Visitors walk across the Capilano Suspension Bridge decorated in Christmas lights in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on Dec. 10. Originally built in 1889, the bridge stretches 135 metres across and 70 metres above the Capilano River.

A house is illuminated ahead of Christmas in Buecken, Lower Saxony, Germany, on Dec. 9. The house, decorated with more than 400,000 lights, is one of the biggest presentations in Europe, according to the homeowner. The words read, "Merry Christmas".

People gather to look at Christmas festive lights that adorn a detached house in a suburban street in Melksham, on Dec. 8, in Melksham, England. The lights, a popular festive attraction, have returned to the town after a two-year absence and have raised thousands of pounds for charity for a local hospice, Dorothy House. The display, which is estimated to involve over 100,000 bulbs, worth over 30,000 GBP and even needed an up-rated electricity supply installed to cope with the additional power needed, is the brainchild of householder and electrician Alex Goodhind. This year, the display which Mr Goodhind began fifteen years ago now takes a team of professional electricians five weeks to complete, and even includes a snow machine.

Rabbis Schmuel Segal and Yehuda Teichtal of the Berlin Orthodox Jewish Chabad community chant a blessing after raising a menorah at the Brandenburg Gate ahead of Hanukkah on Dec. 7, in Berlin.

Two girls watch the Christmas lights in Medellin, Colombia, on Dec. 6. The Medellin's Christmas lights exhibition is one of the most impressive in Colombia.

The National Christmas Tree after its lighting on Dec. 6 in Washington.

A Christmas tree is lit up to celebrate the upcoming Christmas holiday in front of City Hall in Madrid's Puerta del Sol on Dec. 6.

People stroll under the "Kobe Luminarie" illumination at a shopping mall in Kobe in Hyogo prefecture, western Japan on Dec. 6. The annual light festival, which began in 1995 to boost the spirits of locals who experienced the Kobe earthquake in January 1995, or the "Great Hanshin Earthquake" as it is known in Japan, will continue through Dec. 17.

The Les Chrysalides de Saint-Jean installation by artist Damien Fontaine lights up the Saint-Jean Cathedral during the rehearsal for the "Festival of Lights” in central Lyon on Dec. 5. The festival will run from Dec. 6 - 9.

The Christmas fair held in front of the Palace of Culture in Warsaw on Dec. 5.

People skate on the ice rink opened on Red Square, with St. Basil Cathedral in the background, in Moscow on Dec. 1.

People attend the Christmas lights illumination on the Medellin River on Dec. 1 in Medellin, Colombia.

Fireworks explode over the state Capitol during the annual Holiday lighting ceremony in Little Rock on Dec. 1.

People stand near a giant Christmas Ball that was inaugurated at the Rossio square in Lisbon on Dec. 1.

Fireworks explode over the floating Christmas tree in Lagoa lake at the annual holiday tree lighting event in Rio de Janeiro on Dec. 1. The Christmas tree is believed to be one of the largest in the world decorated with millions of Christmas lights.

German bicycle designer Didi Senft, also known as "El Diablo," presents his latest Christmas-themed construction in the eastern German city of Storkow, on Nov. 29.

People walk around the electronic Christmas tree on the Grand Place in Brussels on Nov. 29. The 'Xmas 3' is a 78-foot high monumental electronic Christmas tree made of steel covered with wood and a screen.

The 80th Annual Rockefeller Center Christmas tree was illuminated on Nov. 28.

Visitors skate on an ice rink at the annual Christmas market at Alexanderplatz on Nov. 28--two days after the market opened in Berlin. Christmas markets--with their stalls selling mulled wine (Gluehwein)--as well as Christmas tree decorations and other delights, are all an integral part of German Christmas tradition.

Lauren Rae, left, and Olivia Marlow look at the ornaments in the Grand Foyer, during the first viewing of the White House 2012 holiday decorations on Nov. 28.

An eight foot 'Herrnhut Star' is illuminated during a light check on the Striezel Market in Dresden, Germany, on Nov. 26. The 578th edition of the market opens on Nov. 28 and will be open for visitors until Dec. 24.

Tourists visit the traditional Christkindelsmaerik (Christ Child market) near Strasbourg Cathedral, on Nov. 24. Held annually since 1570, Strasbourg's Christ Child Market, known as France's oldest Christmas market, will be open until Dec. 31.

Visitors look at illuminated Christmas stars for sale at the annual Christmas market at Gendarmenmarkt in Berlin, on its opening day on Nov. 26.

A young Japanese couple walks through a tunnel of LED lights, during a Christmas illumination event at Tokyo Dome City Attractions in Tokyo, on Nov. 21.

The annual Christmas market at Gendarmenmarkt in Berlin on its opening day on Nov. 26.