Early in December, thousands of students, faculty, and visitors gather around the front campus fountain for an annual Christmas carol sing and lighting ceremony, culminating in the illumination of tens of thousands of Christmas lights.

On December 3, 2004, the ceremony broke the Guinness World Record for Christmas caroling with 7, 514 carolers.

The Christmas ceremony is accompanied by a reading of A Visit From St. Nicholas by Clement Clarke Moore and Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus by Francis Pharcellus Church.

The declaration ceremony begins with the hymn Jumala ompi linnamme ( Martin Luther's Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott ) and continues with the Declaration of Christmas Peace read from a parchment roll in Finnish and Swedish.

As part of the tradition, the Lord Mayor of Westminster visits Oslo in the late autumn to take part in the felling of the tree, and the Mayor of Oslo then goes to London to light the tree at the Christmas ceremony.

The Savanna Chamber of Commerce and other community groups sponsor several activities throughout the year that include ; the annual Ladies Day Out Luncheon, a Memorial Day parade and ceremony, the yearly Riverfront Festival, 4 July Fireworks, the Halloween Haunted Forest, and a downtown Christmas Walk.

There is also a Christmas tree lighting ceremony, arrival of Santa, and carriage rides throughout the historic streets shortly after Thanksgiving.

A Christmas parade is held each year with a tree-lighting ceremony, as well the annual community fish fry hosted by the Local Chapter of the Ruritan.

The Vatican has displayed a scene in St. Peter's Square near its Christmas tree since 1982 and the Pope has for many years blessed the mangers of children assembled in St. Peter's Square for a special ceremony.

It was also worn when a pope gave his traditional Christmas and Easter Urbi et Orbi blessing from the balcony of St Peter's, the only religious ceremony when the tiara was worn.

He became a Christian in a ceremony at Reims at Christmas 496 ; the traditional date of the battle of Tolbiac has been established to accord with this firmly attested baptismal date, by accepting as literal truth Gregory's account which has a clear parallel with the conversion of Constantine I, connected by Lactantius with the equally conclusive Battle of the Milvian Bridge.

A ceremony takes place each Advent to light up the town's Christmas tree.

Gounod's Marche Pontificale was first performed in this new role during a ceremony on Christmas Eve of 1949, one day before the opening of the Holy Year 1950.

At Lindenhurst Senior High School ( 1967 – 71 ), Benatar participated in musical theater, playing Queen Guinevere in the school production of Camelot, marching in the homecoming parade, singing at the annual Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony, and performing a solo of " The Christmas Song " on a holiday recording of the Lindenhurst High School Choir her senior year.

On Christmas Day, 800, Pope Leo III crowned Charles as " Emperor of the Romans " in Rome in a ceremony presented as a surprise ( Charlemagne did not wish to be indebted to the bishop of Rome ), a further papal move in the series of symbolic gestures that had been defining the mutual roles of papal auctoritas and imperial potestas.

The BSO is commonly seen during the December holidays covering Christmas songs and often play the Rockefeller Center tree lighting ceremony.

Vivekananda performed the fire ceremony Christmas Eve December 25th, 1886 ; " after " Sri Ramakrishna's mahasamadhi ( death ) in August 16th, 1886.

The ceremony, in those days, was based on the reading of the traditional birth of Christ, i. e. the " Christmas Story ", unlike today's more generic " holiday " themes and music.

Camber is installed as Archbishop of Valoret on Christmas 917, but the ceremony is interrupted by Alroy and his Regents, who refuse to acknowledge his election.

Christmas ceremony in Karachi, Pakistan

After successfully transferring the remains Shoghi Effendi reburied the two next to each other in a ceremony on Christmas Day of 1939.

In 1954, the ceremony returned to the Ellipse and with an expanded focus: the " Christmas Pageant of Peace ".

A Bremen guild chronicle of 1570 reports that a small tree decorated with " apples, nuts, dates, pretzels and paper flowers " was erected in the guild-house for the benefit of the guild members ' children, who collected the dainties on Christmas Day.

Selden b. 26, which dates from circa 1458 AD, contains an anonymous Christmas carol ( f. 8 ) which begins with the lyrics:

Father Christmas dates back at least as far as the 17th century in Britain, and pictures of him survive from that era, portraying him as a well-nourished bearded man dressed in a long green fur-lined robe.

The practice of dressing up in costumes and begging door to door for treats on holidays dates back to the Middle Ages and includes Christmas wassailing.

In the Southern hemisphere, school summer holiday dates include the major holidays of Christmas and New Year's Day.

The reunited Pogues played dates in the UK with support from the Dropkick Murphys in late 2005, and re-released their 1987 Christmas classic " Fairytale of New York " on 19 December, which went straight in at No. 3 in the UK Singles charts on Christmas Day 2005, showing the song's enduring popularity.

The practice of dressing up in costumes and begging door to door for treats on holidays dates back to the Middle Ages and includes Christmas wassailing.

The town council also puts on a summer fair and a Christmas fair, for which the dates are agreed annually.

His four children were all born on notable dates: Gus on Guy Fawkes Day 1973 ; Sunny on Valentine's Day 1975 ; Minna on Australia Day 1992 and Felix on Christmas Day 1995.

Major annual fairs, such as Kaziukas Fair, are held in this square, the main Christmas tree is decorated here, various concerts and other attractions are organised as well as celebrations of the important dates of the state.

Generally struck late in the year and intended to be purchased as Christmas gifts, they did not circulate well with the rarest of all dates, 1934, ( mintage just 932 ) now fetching several thousand pounds each.

Some commonly mentioned dates were February 1 ( to some February 2 ), May 1 ( Great Sabbat, Walpurgis Night ), August 1 ( lammas ), November 1 ( Halloween, commencing on October 30's eve ), Easter, and Christmas.

According to the testimonies of benandanti and similar European groups ( see below ), common dates for gatherings are during the weeks of the Ember days, during the twelve days of Christmas or at Pentecost.

Such events usually take place during holidays, such as to celebrate Christmas, to commemorate a deceased brother, or in remembrance of historic events or important dates in the fraternity's history.

The sermon in question was a yearly joint Christmas service between the two congregations, which dates back at least 60 years.

In addition, the Sikh festivals such as Guru Nanak Gurpurab, the Christian festivals such as Christmas, Good Friday and Jain festivals like Mahavir Jayanti, Paryushan are celebrated in certain areas where these religions have a significant following. The annual holidays are widely observed by state and local governments ; however, they may alter the dates of observance or add or subtract holidays according to local custom.

The high school seminarians are permitted to go home several times a year such as vacation in the summer, Thanksgiving, and Christmas along with familial dates.

Service is provided on a seasonal basis, rather than year-round, the regular operating season normally lasting from May to October, followed by limited operation on a few dates during the Christmas and holiday season, in December each year.

This agenda is most frequently encountered in the realm of religion: In essentially all Western nations, for instance, Christmas Day — and in some countries, other important dates in the Christian calendar as well — are recognized as legal holidays ; plus a particular denomination may be designated as the state religion and receive financial backing from the government ( examples include the Church of England in England and the Lutheran Church in the Scandinavian countries ).

The new Crew magazine has claimed the legacy of the old one and there are some who claim that the new magazine also reproduces the long pauses between issues ( to summarize: in 2005 5 issues were produced, instead of the regular five and the Christmas issue of 2005 appeared as the first issue of 2006, leaving the dates of two more magazine publishings unfulfilled.

A peculiar coincidence are Christmas Day and Independence Day, falling on two consecutive dates.

The three key dates in the Kimbanguist are April 6 ( marking the date of the start of the ministry of healing ), October 12 ( marking the day Kimbangu died ) and May 25 ( marking Christmas, falling on the birthday of Papa Dialungana ).

The celebration has been held on different dates, usually in January, because 1 January, eight days after Christmas, commemorates the circumcision and naming of the child Jesus ; as recounted in the Gospel read on that day, " at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.