Palestinians over the weekend lit a huge Christmas tree in Bethlehem outside the Church of the Nativity, kickstarting the festive period leading up to Christmas Day.

The footage filmed on December 3 shows the crowd chanting the countdown before the big tree is eventually lit up and fireworks are going off in the sky.

There's music and marching bands playing and a large crowd is excited to see the beginning of this year's Christmas season in the very place considered the birthplace of the Christian religion.

RESTRICTION SUMMARY: Bethlehem- 03 December 2022. Palestinians light Christmas tree in Manger Square outside the Church of the Nativity in the West Bank city of Bethlehem

STORYLINE:

Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world.

A feast central to the Christian liturgical year, it is preceded by the season of Advent or the Nativity Fast and initiates the season of Christmastide, which historically in the West lasts twelve days and culminates on Twelfth Night. Christmas Day is a public holiday in many countries, is celebrated religiously by a majority of Christians, as well as culturally by many non-Christians, and forms an integral part of the holiday season organized around it.

Footage by APAwire