Christmas festive spirit grips Toronto

The ground and the house tops were covered with thick blanket of snow on Monday.

The front of several houses in the city have been fully lit with decorative lights.

The lights have lend a charm to the city which is eagerly waiting for the festival to arrive.

From the month of November itself people start decorating outside their houses.

The shops decorated with lights are full of people, be it day time or night time and one can hardly find a parking spot.

The appearance of Santa Claus in the malls with the background music is a great attraction to small children.

Small children accompanied by their parents can be seen lined up in the Scarborough Town Centre (STC) to have a chance to sit beside or in the lap of Santa Claus and have their photos clicked.

One of the new immigrants, Krishnamoorthy accompanied by his wife and two small children Raghu and Sumita, were also lined up as the kids were eager to have their photo clicked with Santa Claus.

When the kids were asked what they liked best in the Mall, Sumita the 4-year girl said, “Santa Claus.”

The 2-year Raghu replied in broken English, “Lights”.

Besides children, teenagers, adults and seniors were also lined up.

One senior couple- Patrick and Susana- said they had been taking photographs with Santa Claus for many years as they considered it a good omen.

The Christmas tree was the main attraction for the teenagers- Robert and Dan.

The big Globe hanging from the roof was being admired by a University of Toronto student George who said, "I have a special interest in Canadian geography."

STC which closes around 6 p.m. during the weekend remain open till 11p.m., as do most of the shops around the country, during the month of December.

(Reporting and photographs by Asha Bajaj)