Holiday spectacles add sparkle to festive season

Trees, lighting displays and more

NEW YORK, Dec 1, (AP): From elaborately decorated trees to drivethrough lighting displays to boat parades and train shows, a variety of holiday spectacles are being staged through the end of December and into early January around the country. Here are a few of them.

Rockefeller Center is sparkling with 30,000 lights on an 80-foot (24meter) Norway spruce that survived Superstorm Sandy. The tree comes from the Mount Olive, N.J., home of Joe Balku, who lost power and other trees during the storm. It remains on view until Jan. 7. While you’re at Rock Center, watch the ice skaters, take in Radio City’s “Christmas Spectacular” or visit St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Fifth Avenue.

Elsewhere in Manhattan, on opposite sides of Central Park near 81st Street, you’ll find themed trees and displays through Jan. 6 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, home to a Christmas tree and Neapolitan and parks are covered in thousands of fairy lights, with the most impressive displays found in Avenue la Playa and the Medellin River. Every year thousands flock to the Medellin River to gaze at the million dollar displays, sample delicious food and enjoy street performances. Kobe, Japan Seasonal illuminations around Christmas time have become a popular attraction in cities across Japan and none is more beautiful than the Kobe Luminarie. After the Kobe earthquake of 1995, Italy donated thousands of handpainted bulbs to the city and these were transformed into an intricate, gothicstyle luminarie designed by Valerio Festi and Hirokazu Imaoka. The tradition continues, and every year from December 112, around four million locals and tourists alike come to celebrate Japan’s Baroque creche, and at the American Museum of Natural History, which hosts its annual origami holiday tree. And at the Plaza Hotel, near the 59th Street entrance to Central Park, a tree decorated with 100 pounds (45 kilos) of glass, gold and silver ornaments pays tribute to “The Great Gatsby,” F. Scott Fitzgerald’s famous novel of the 1920s. A new film version of “Gatsby” is due out next summer starring Leonardo DiCaprio.

In Washington, the National Christmas Tree will be lit Dec. 6. It’s the 90th year for the tradition, with the tree typically lit by the president and his family. The tree used in the ceremony is a live tree, planted on the Ellipse near the White House. This year’s tree is marking its first Christmas in Washington. It’s a 28foot-tall (8.5 meters) blue spruce that was transplanted just before Superstorm Sandy struck. It replaced a tree that died in the spring. That tree had only been in the ground for enduring resilience Yuenchi Park. Baltimore, Maryland For 11 months out of the year, 34th Street in Baltimore is like any other street in North America, but in the month of December something truly magical takes place. Now in its 62nd year, the “Christmas Street” light display sees thousands of visitors descend on this unassuming neighborhood to view some of the most fantastic, and quirky, lights in North America. Each house on the block is decorated in the owner’s unique style and some homes include toy trains on rooftops and hubcap Christmas trees. Berlin, Germany Germany is the home of Christmas Lights so it’s no wonder the country’s capital really shines during the holiday season. When the sun goes down on Berlin,

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Higashi- a year; its predecessor had stood on the Ellipse since 1978 but was destroyed by high winds in early 2011.

You’ll have to look up, way up, if you want to see the top of the Christmas tree at Outlets at Anthem, the Phoenix-area mall in the Phoenix. The white fir from northern California is 110 feet tall (33.5 meters) and is one of the tallest cut trees in the country. It weighs 12 tons and is located in a specially designed well in the Outlets’ center court.

In North Carolina, Christmas at the Biltmore estate also features a special tree on its front lawn. The Norway spruce, 55 feet tall (17 meters), was bought by Joseph Gray for his wife back in 1972 and planted at the end of their driveway on Roan Mountain in Tennessee. Gray, now in his early 80s, lost his wife in 2010. The aging tree was struggling to survive, so The Biltmore trucked it to Asheville, decorated it with 45,000 the city’s historic buildings, streets and every available tree branch is lit up with colourful projections and row upon row of fairy lights. Berlin’s illuminations are such a draw that visitors with a passion for photography can sign up for special guided tours of the lights. Within the city squares and boulevards nearly 60 different Weihnachtsmarkt (Christmas Markets) provide even more glistening sights along with all the shopping, food and Gl ºhwein (mulled wine) you’d expect from a Christmas market. You’ll find some of the best illuminations at the 368m Fernsehtur (TV Tower), Alexanderplatz Market, Opera Palace, National Opera and the famous Brandenburg Gate and Charlottenburg Palace.

Disney, Los Angeles, California USA

The happiest place on earth gets even lights and is displaying it for the holidays. Other Biltmore holiday activities include tours, candlelight Christmas evenings, and weekend Santa visits.

In many Florida towns, the holiday spirit arrives by boat. Some 75 holiday boat parades are scheduled from Pensacola to Key West. Some parades offer cash prizes for best decorations, others include charity drives for toys or food banks, or have special guests, like Santa Clam in Cedar Key. A directory of events can be found at: http://www.floridabywater. com/ component/ content/ article/1647-boat-parades .

Elsewhere in Florida, Key West puts a local spin on “The Nutcracker” with performances Dec. 15-16, and 19-22 of “The Nutcracker Key West,” which turns the story of a girl’s visit to the land of the sugar plum fairy into an island and underwater fantasy with dancing snowy egrets, tumbling shrimp and colorful fish. merrier over the holiday season as Disneyland is transformed into an extravagant winter wonderland right in the heart of California. Classic rides such as It’s A Small World and the Haunted Mansion are given luminous festive makeovers, while Main Street is decked out in the all the best Christmas trimmings. Heralded by trumpeting toy soldiers, prancing reindeer, joyful gingerbread men and skating snowflakes, the Main Street Christmas Fantasy Parade sees all of Disney’s most popular characters dressed up in their holiday best. The centerpiece of this magical display sees Sleeping Beauty’s Castle covered with snow-capped turrets, shimmering icicles and twinkling lights. Finally, everything is topped off by a dazzling pyrotechnics and fireworks spectacular.