Beirut: Metres away from the site of the Aug. 4 Beirut blast, a Christmas village was set up.
Organisers are hoping that posing with Santa, the bright lights and an overall festive atmosphere will put a smile on people's faces after a very tough year in Lebanon.
Solidarity, an aid organization, set up the Christmas village with the aim of helping those affected by the explosion and reconstructing around 1,000 destroyed houses.
"People are in a state of despair so we thought of giving them some hope by showing them that there are people who are thinking of celebrating Christmas with them," says Hiyam Boustani from Solidarity.
Lebanon is currently in the grips an unprecedented economic crisis, which has seen the local currency lose up to 80 percent of its value, decimating people's savings.
Poverty and unemployment are soaring, made worse by the coronavirus pandemic.
Read: Lebanese PM downplays charges of neglect over Beirut blast
Then came the deadly Aug. 4 blast in Beirut's port, the most devastating single event in the region this year.
The explosion was caused by the ignition of a large stockpile of explosive material that had been stored at the port for six years with the knowledge of top security officials and politicians who did nothing about it.
Despite these events, visitors of the Christmas village came determined to get into a festive mood.
"We love to live, nothing will affect us, not an explosion, not a war, nothing," says Christmas village visitor Rima Mansour.
The papal ambassador to Lebanon and other priests visited the Christmas village to encourage people to celebrate Christmas.
And a group of graduates and students at the Holy Spirit University of Kaslik filled the venue with Christmas carols and joyful tunes.
Lebanon, a nation of around 7 million people, has the largest percentage of Christians in the Middle East, and Christmas is typically marked with celebrations all across the country
AP
