World Wide #ChristmasInMyCity Challenge - Showcase how your city does Christmas

Google Maps contribution stories
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How does your city celebrate Christmas? Are there special decorations, events, activities etc that your city/town/village/country is known for in connection with this special event? Why is that particular thing meaningful for you or your city?

And if you celebrate it personally or as a family, how do you do it? Are there any special family traditions you have around this time?

A nativity scene below our Christmas tree done by my kids
A nativity scene below our Christmas tree done by my kids2066Ɨ1266 922 KB

With local guides that span the globe, I reckon this would be a fun exercise to undertake. Perhaps we might even find our next holiday destination from among these.

So, if youā€™d like to join this World Wide #ChristmasInMyCity Challenge, show us some of your best photos of the season in your city/country and write a post about it then link it back to me and Iā€™ll keep this list updated.

You can organise a meetup and write it as a recap or you could just go ahead and do it by yourself or compile a shared album that your friends can share to, and then link it back here.

When does this begin? Right now.

When does it finish? 14 Jan 2020.

Why 14 Jan 2020? This is because it has just come my attention that Christmas is celebrated on the 7 Jan (not 25 Dec) by Orthodox Christians so this should give us all sufficient time to compile and or write what we need to to create a post. @OlgaKlimchik

However, of course, for those where it is possible to aim for an earlier date, we would love to see/read it earlier. :slightly_smiling_face:

I look forward to seeing what weā€™ll all come up with!

#ChristmasInMyCity

NEWS FLASH! NEWS FLASH!

Since writing the above post, hereā€™s a handy (and growing) list of countries/cities and local guides who have accepted and written up or posted photos in response to #ChristmasInMyCity challange:

  1. Poland and Germany https://www.localguidesconnect.com/t5/General-Discussion/Ramble-through-Christmas-Markets-in-Poland-and-Germany/td-p/2108280 @TorM

  2. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia https://www.localguidesconnect.com/t5/General-Discussion/Recap-Kuala-Lumpur-Christmas-Photowalk-in-Bukit-Bintang-December/m-p/2110840#M655607 @StephenAbraham

  3. Volta Redonda, Brazil https://www.localguidesconnect.com/t5/General-Discussion/Decora%C3%A7%C3%B5es-e-Pres%C3%A9pio-de-Natal-duas-hist%C3%B3rias-que-se-encontraram/m-p/2110771#M655581

@AlexandreCampbell

  1. ā€˜The Boulevardā€™ - Melbourne, Australia https://www.localguidesconnect.com/t5/General-Discussion/Christmas-in-The-Boulevard-Melbourne/td-p/2110925

  2. Melbourne, Australia https://www.localguidesconnect.com/t5/General-Discussion/RECAP-ChristmasInMyCity-Melbourne-23-Dec-2019/td-p/2114290

  3. Melbourne, Australia https://www.localguidesconnect.com/t5/General-Discussion/Melbourne-celebrates-Christmas-2019-ChristmasInMyCity/m-p/2114352#M657614

  4. Manchester, UK. https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipPg8Tuf0dRmuC3-tdMtx9-mR8OHd4zHDRc_2xKUlrN-CH9CW1XOPjowFz23UfPCHQ?key=RnRrVW9RbXhNbnhtTG1ObVRBOUdwUXBuVGdhc1p3 and https://www.localguidesconnect.com/t5/General-Discussion/RECAP-Manchester-LG-Dec-2019-Meetup/m-p/2109749#M655036 @PeteMHW

  5. Mandurah, Western Australia, Australia. Mandurah Estuary Christmas Lights Adventure 2019.
    @Osaka78forTRUMP

  6. Taipei, Taiwan. https://www.localguidesconnect.com/t5/General-Discussion/Let-s-Get-Xmas-Vibe-Started-in-Taipei-Taiwan/m-p/2118162#M659898

  7. Karachi, Pakistan https://www.localguidesconnect.com/t5/General-Discussion/Recap-When-Christmas-Photo-Walk-became-an-Accessibility/m-p/2124004#M663260 @KashifMisidia

  8. Ayamonte and the Port of Santa MarĆ­a, South of Spain https://www.localguidesconnect.com/t5/General-Discussion/La-Navidad-y-los-Reyes-Magos-en-Espa%C3%B1a/m-p/2140124#M673357 @AlejandraMaria

  9. Tallinn, Estonia https://www.localguidesconnect.com/t5/General-Discussion/Old-New-Old-New-Year/m-p/2140112#M673352 @OlgaKlimchik @JaneBurunina

  10. Tallinn, Estonia (video) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNBz7TuiN0I&feature=youtu.be @JaneBurunina

  11. Tallinn, Estonia https://www.localguidesconnect.com/t5/General-Discussion/RECAP-Enjoying-the-Christmas-Spirit-in-Tallinn/td-p/2149710 @JaneBurunina

There is also a shared photo album with photos by a number of contributors already: https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipPSO_5nzWsAhkQiWh-Uk1cHrIVnWB_gWoMBKic70REnseM_XeeGhGx2pnxZp8RJlA?key=LVB0RDBLdzhJRTAtNXE1ckEwUkwtVHZLSWdzUHBn

  • Detroit, USA - Alfred Brock
  • Funchal in Madeira island, Portugal - Patricia Almeida
  • Melbourne, Australia - yours truly

Look forward to adding you to the above growing list. Cut off for additions is 15 Jan 2020 (Canā€™t believe I just wrote that, ā€œ2020ā€!).

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Hey @MariaNgo ,

I love Christmas, itā€™s my favourite holiday and I am super excited to see your challenge. I hope to read as many posts as possible about Christmas and feel the happiness of the people around the world.

Have you seen this post from last year How is Christmas celebrated in 10 different countries. I am sure you will like it!

By the way, would you mind changing the picture in your post as it does not appear to be your own. This is in violation of the Local Guides program rules. In case you donā€™t have your own photos, you can always make use of our photo library.

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Hello @MariaNgo . In my place no Christmas celebration not at all but every Christmas 25 december is our national holiday for respect some other Christian friends , so just off my work.and watch movie home alone in my room .

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@MoniDi Thanks for that link to how Christmas is celebrated in 10 different countries. That was an interesting read. Iā€™ve changed the photo, umm ā€¦ didnā€™t know that one couldnā€™t use free pics, also tried to look in the free photos library but I could only see about 50 photos ā€¦ will keep looking for another photo, in the meantime, Iā€™ve used one that I took.

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@Nyainurjanah Are there any special shows you like to watch when you have time off during this season? Or are there special shows that might be broadcast at this time?

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Hi @MariaNgo ,

Great, thanks for changing your photo. Please be advised that we always encourage Local Guides to share content created by themselves. Besides, your photo looks awesome! :slightly_smiling_face:

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@MoniDi Thanks.

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Lovely idea to see how Christmas is celebrated around the world!!! Canā€™t wait to see the posts :slightly_smiling_face: @MariaNgo

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Hi @MariaNgo !

A great idea!!! I like the #ChristmasInMyCity Challenge.

I will start to think about the post: how we celebrate Christmas in my town (Ayamonte) ; in the South of Spainā€¦

A big big hug and two kisses (left and right)

Alejandra.

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@MariaNgo Great idea. But there are two different Christmas celebration dates: Catholic and Orthodox, the first is on December, 25th, and the second is on January, 7. So, Orthodox Christians wonā€™t be able to participate in this challenge. For example Russia is mostly Orthodox country, in Belarus both Orthodox and Catholic Christmas celebrated equally.

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@Denise_Barlock I canā€™t wait to see what we will discover about this too.

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@OlgaKlimchik Thank you for bringing to my attention the different dates that Christmas is celebrated on. That is something I didnā€™t know before. I knew about Easter but not Christmas being on a different date. I will amend the cut off date to make it possible for those who celebrate this later to be included.

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@AlejandraMaria That would be so awesome to have your city represented in this. I can imagine that it would be quite a colourful and festive celebration - judging by even the costume you wore to the opening party of Connect Live this year.

A hug and two kisses right back at you. :slightly_smiling_face:

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@MariaNgo Wonderful, I usually surprise with something spectacular every Xmass

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@DavidTito Hope youā€™ll be able to share some of that spectacular surprise with us this year.

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@MariaNgo I will join in

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@DavidTito Beauty! Look forward to your post.

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Hi @MariaNgo

your picture of the nativity scene looks soooo cuuute!!!

I love your idea so much! I want to join your #ChristmasInMyCity Challenge!

Really, Christmas is a season of miracles!

Most of the people on the South of Ukraine follow Orthodox traditions. And we celebrate here Christmas on 7 January like Belarus where @OlgaKlimchik and @katydarhel are from. We have the similar traditions.

I canā€™t wait to see a lot of amazing pictures of Christmas celebration around the World!

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Great idea @MariaNgo and the Manchester Local Guides are having a meetup next weekend where weā€™re exploring the Christmas markets and then having a meal and quiz together!! :slightly_smiling_face: Iā€™ll have some great super materials to post to your #ChristmasInMyCity challenge!!! :slightly_smiling_face: :slightly_smiling_face: :slightly_smiling_face:

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@JaneBurunina Iā€™m soooo happy that you are going to be part of this #ChristmasInMyCity challenge. I am pretty sure we will learn a lot about our cities/village/country through sharing about this special season together in this way. I look forward to reading your post and seeing the photos in January.

Iā€™m glad you like my photo too. Big smile

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