A year full of upheavals and hardships is coming to an end. As usual, Christmas is here and people are excited about the festive season. This year, the usual Christmas celebrations in many countries may be a little different, such as Santa Claus "riding" a fire truck or thousands of people wearing masks running in long-distance races.
Whether strange or familiar, Christmas still brings a bustling, excited atmosphere, and is a great opportunity to bring people closer together after the long social distancing of the past 12 months.
Athletes participate in the 10km Christmas race in Caracas, Venezuela - Photo: Ariana Cubillos/AP
Young people among more than a thousand people, of all ages, dressed as Santa Claus in the Piraeus Christmas Race 2021 in Piraeus, Greece - Photo: Xinhua/REX/Shutterstock
Runners take part in the annual Christmas race in Madrid, Spain's capital - Photo: Paul White/AP
Also in Madrid, people participate in a race to raise money to help victims of the Cumbre Vieja volcano eruption in the Canary Islands - Photo: Juan Medina/Reuters
A Santa Claus paraglides on the Mediterranean island of Ajaccio in the Mediterranean Sea - Photo: Pascal Pochard-Casabianca/AFP/Getty Images
Runners dressed in Christmas costumes take part in a 5km run along the beach in Weymouth, UK - Photo: Graham Hunt/Alamy Live News/Alamy Live News
Chase the Pudding Race raises funds for young people wanting to get into water sports, in Weymouth, UK
The participants' task was to chase Mr and Mrs Pudding - Photo: Ben Birchall/PA
Christians dressed as Santa Claus surround a nativity scene during a parade in Lahore, Pakistan - Photo: KM Chaudary/AP
Santa Claus visits people living in coastal jungles to deliver gifts to children, in the Amazon basin of Careiro de Varzea, Brazil - Photo: Edmar Barros/AP
A glitter-decorated boat leads a flotilla along the Grand Canal in Venice, Italy - Photo: Andrea Merola/EPA
Another flotilla of boats passes under the Rialto Bridge - Photo: Stefano Mazzola/Awakening/Getty Images
A diver dressed as Santa Claus at the Guadalajara Zoo in Mexico - Photo: Francisco Guasco/EPA
A man dressed as Santa Claus poses with a swimmer during the annual Christmas swim at the Promenade des Anglais, along the coastline in Nice, France. Photo: Eric Gaillard/Reuters
Santa Claus dresses up in a fire station dressing room before starting his visit to children in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania (USA) - Photo: Aimee Dilger/SOPA Images/REX/Shutterstock
This year, he put away his sleigh and reindeer and stood on a fire truck to comply with social distancing measures - Photo: ZUMA Press Inc/Alamy Live News/Alamy Live News
