Around the world, nights look brighter this time of year. Illuminations of all kinds help celebrate holidays or festivities.-

 

By Leanne Burden Seidel From Boston Globe

1

People enjoy an annual yearend illumination in Shiodome district in Tokyo, Japan, Nov. 24. (Shuji Kajiyama/Associated Press)

 

2

An ultra-Orthodox Jewish man lights a candle on the third night of the holiday of Hanukkah in the southern city of Ashdod Dec. 18. (Amir Cohen/Reuters)

 

3

A person walks through ‘Night Lights’ a holiday theme light show of projected images and coordinated music in Boston, Mass. Dec. 17.. Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff Topic: Reporter: (Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff)

 

4

Children and teenagers from the Neptun synchronised swimming club perform during a Saint Lucia concert at the Forsgrenska pool on Dec. 12, in Stockholm. (JONATHAN NACKSTRAND/AFP/Getty Images)

 

5

Christmas lights illuminate the Medellin River on Dec. 9 in Medellin, Antioquia department, Colombia. (Raul Arboleda/AFP/Getty Images)

 

6

Students in the childcare program watch candles in the menorah burn after a celebration for the first day of Hanukkah at the York Jewish Community Center in York, Pa. on Dec. 16. ( Kate Penn/York Daily Record via Associated Press)

 

7

A Chinese security guard is seen in his booth among trees decorated with Christmas lights outside a shopping mall in Beijing, China, Dec 17. While few Chinese celebrate the religious side of the Christmas holidays, many enthusiastically get into the shopping and gift giving tradition, granting much cheer to the retail industry during this period. (HOW HWEE YOUNG/EPA)

 

8

The Champs Elysees avenue in Paris is illuminated by Christmas lights hanging from trees, as rush hour traffic fills the avenue leading to the Arc de Triomphe, in Paris, Dec. 17. (Remy de la Mauviniere/Associated Press)

 

9

People burning brooms gather on the village main square during ‘Los Escobazos’ Festival in Jarandilla de la Vera, Spain, Dec. 7. Los Escobazos is an ancient feast celebrated every night on the 7th of December, where people burn brooms to welcome each other. (Daniel Ochoa de Olza/Associated Press)

 

10

Over one million lights have been set up in Canberra’s CBD officially breaking the Guinness World Record for the largest LED image display on Nov. 29 in Canberra, Australia. The display will raise money for SIDS and Kids ACT. (Stefan Postles/Getty Images)

 

11

The first lamp of a large scale menorah lights in front of the Brandenburg Gate on Dec. 16 in Berlin, Germany. (Carsten Koall//Getty Images)

 

12

View of Color or Not installation by artist Yves Moreaux at the Saint-Jean Cathedral during the rehearsal for the Festival of Lights in central Lyon late in the night Dec 4. The Festival of Lights (Fetes des Lumieres), with designers from all over the world, is one of Lyon’s most famous Festivals to date. (Robert Pratta/Reuters)

 

13

A Pakistani Muslim devotee holds a lit oil lamp at the shrine of Sufi Saint Syed Ali bin Osman Al-Hajvery, popularly known as Data Ganj Bakhsh, during the annual ”Urs” religious festival in Lahore on Dec. 11. (Arif Ali/AFP/Getty Images)

 

14

This image released by NASA Dec. 15, shows the easily recognized boot of Italy, with Sicily at its toe, spread across this panorama taken Oct. 21 by astronauts aboard the International Space Station(ISS). Some of the brightest clusters of lights are Rome and nearby Naples, with island cities of Cagliari on Sardinia and Catania on Sicilynow well-known as the hometown of European Space Agency astronaut Luca Parmitano. (NASA)

 

15

Visitors walk through Christmas lights at Tokyo Dome City in Tokyo, Dec. 6. (Koji Sasahara/Associated Press)

 

16

Rabbi Yisroel Weingarten and Aaron Kucherenko, 9, light the first candle on the Menorah on the first night of Hanukkah Dec. 16, at the Chabad House-Lubavitch of Eastern Michigan in Flint. (Erin Kirkland/The Flint Journal via Associated Press)

 

17

A costumed Romanian man, seen through Christmas light decorations, takes part in the charity amateur race ‘Santa Runs’ at the Mogosoaia Park near Bucharest, Romania, Dec 6. (ROBERT GHEMENT/EPA)

 

18

People watch Harley Davidson motorcyclists, wearing Santa Claus dresses, driving through the streets of Basel, Switzerland, Dec. 6., as they take part in a parade of the Harley Owner Group (HOG) Northwest Chapter Switzerland. (GEORGIOS KEFALAS/EPA)

 

19

Shoppers tour a shopping mall decorated with light installation for the Christmas season in Beijing, China, Dec. 7. (Andy Wong/Associated Press)

 

20

An element of the installation “Voyageurs” by French artist Cedric Le Borgne is suspended at Place Bel Air in Geneva Dec. 1. The installation is part of the Geneva Lux Festival presenting four art installations in the town city center until Jan. 11, 2015. (Denis Balibouse/Reuters)

 

21

People walk past and take photographs next to a decorative light in the shape of a Christmas parcel at the Rossio square in Lisbon, Dec. 4. (Francisco Seco/Associated Press)

 

22

A person is silhouetted in front of a giant illuminated Menorah or Hanukkah lamp in the port of Tel Aviv, Israel, Dec.18. Hanukkah is known as the Festival of Lights and Feast of Dedication. (ABIR SULTAN/EPA)

 

23

Buildings are illuminated on Dec. 7, in the central French city of Lyon during the 16th edition of the Festival of Lights, a secular version of a religious tradition devoted to Virgin Mary and dating back to 153 years ago. (JEAN-PHILIPPE KSIAZEK/AFP/Getty Images)

 

24

People enjoy the Christmas lights on the 700 block of 34th Street in the Hampden community of Baltimore, Maryland on Dece. 12. The display called “Miracle on 34th Street” dates back to 1947 and attracts thousands of tourists each year. (MLADEN ANTONOV/AFP/Getty Images)

For more on this story go to: http://www.bostonglobe.com/news/bigpicture/2014/12/24/seasonal-lights/1YH1pC4GyDHum8Cncfjy0M/story.html