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Travel & Experiences

10 brilliant holiday light displays around the world

Last year's "Blue Cave" theme at the illumination event in the Shibuya ward of Tokyo featured 600,000 blue LED lights in Yoyogi Park.

Last year’s “Blue Cave” theme at the illumination event in the Shibuya ward of Tokyo featured 600,000 blue LED lights in Yoyogi Park.

  (Toshi Sasaki/Getty Images)

By Christen A. Johnson
Chicago Tribune
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The leaves have fallen, the turkey has come and gone, and Chicago’s first blizzard of the season has blanketed the city. Which means it’s officially the most wonderful time of the year! And what better way to usher in the holiday season (aside from playing Frank Sinatra Christmas songs on repeat) than oohing and aahing at brilliant, bright, twinkling, colored lightbulbs from around the world? From Monte Carlo to Tokyo, these 10 holiday light displays are elaborate, commemorative and just plain amazing.

Have great pictures of your own holiday decor? Send them to rstevenson@chicagotribune.com, and we may include them in a future photo gallery.

Kobe, Japan

Each year, the town of Kobe holds a light show, called the “Illuminations of Kobe Luminarie,” to commemorate the Great Hanshin earthquake of 1995.

  (Marser/Getty Images)

Canberra, Australia

This annual light event in Glebe Park of Canberra, Australia, features numerous lit trees under a canopy of lights. The show set a Guinness World Record in 2015 for most lights on an artificial Christmas tree.

  (Stefan Postles/Getty Images)

Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro has the world’s largest floating Christmas tree, which stands almost 280 feet and boasts over 3 million lightbulbs.

  (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

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Vilnius, Lithuania

This ornate Christmas tree in Vilnius, Lithuania, has a metal frame and is covered by carefully cut branches.

  (Birute/Getty Images)

Tbilisi, Georgia

A statue of St. George gets decorated like a Christmas tree at Freedom Square in Tbilisi, Georgia.

  (Vano Shlamov/AFP)

Tbilisi, Georgia

A different view of the St. George statue.

  (Vano Shlamov/Getty Images)

Copenhagen

Copenhagen is known for its Christmas markets and decor, including this illuminated restaurant at the Tivoli Gardens.

  (MyLoupe/Getty Images)

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Tokyo

Blue illuminations at the Caretta Shiodome retail complex in Tokyo.

  (coward_lion/Getty Images)

Travel & Experiences
Christen A. Johnson

Christen A. Johnson has been at the Chicago Tribune since 2017. She writes about relationships, style, family, parenting and African-American life — particularly the joys, pains and nuances within black womanhood. A 2016 Northwestern University graduate, Christen earned her bachelor’s from the Medill School of Journalism, while competing as a Big Ten athlete on the women’s basketball team (no, guys, she doesn’t want to play you one-on-one).

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