Christmas in Lebanon

Christmas is a state holiday in Lebanon, a country in which 40% of the population is Christian. Most Lebanese Muslims celebrate Christmas with Christian friends. Commercialization and open markets are bringing a more secular celebration of Christmas to the public. Churches are open all night for praying and people go to visit friends and families, often to villages in the mountains. Christmas concerts are popular. Prayers and carols start to be said and sung on Christmas night and continue till the new year’s eve. Internationally famous fashion designer, Elie Saab, donates a giant Christmas tree of 25m high for public display every year. Lebanese Christmas food is a mixture of European and Middle Eastern fare, for example, Taboule, Kebbe, Turkey and wine, and for dessert a “buche de noel” French is widely spoken, and the greeting, “Joyeux Noel” is used. Christmas decorations fill the roads. Houses are also decorated and beneath the Christmas tree, families will place a nativity scene or creche representing Jesus, St. Mary, St Joseph and the Three Kings.

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