In the darkest days of the year, in a very dark time, there is a yearning for enlightenment.

And so, the holiday lights all over the world are turning on – some humble, others spectacular, all a welcome respite in the dark.

They make the street an interactive experience.

There are light tunnels to walk through, like pedestrians do in Tokyo, at the Johannesburg Zoo, and at the Holiday Road light show in Calabasas, California, to walk through, like in a mall in Panay, Philippines, where visitors stay in their cars to curb the spread of COVID-19.

There are real trees and artificial trees and gigantic trees, like the light sculpture in Vigo, Spain, which is said to be the tallest tree in the world, so tall that adults and children alike wander around inside.

Vigo is doing everything it can for Christmas, stringing 11 million LED lights in more than 350 streets.

Some displays are municipal, such as the silver string lights that adorn Moscow streetlights.

Some are commercial, like the lights that envelop an electronics store in Syntagma Square in Athens, turning it into a huge gift box.

And some are private, like the exaggerated decorations of the houses in the Dyker Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York.

PA