Festive Preparations Ahead of the New Year’s Eve in Erbil

To mark New Year’s Eve, streets and shops across Erbil were decorated and lit up with colorful lights and Christmas trees. Thousands of Christians gathered in churches to join the Christmas Eve Mass Prayer. This year’s celebrations were distinguished for unprecedented participation, considering that the precautionary measures and curfew were lifted, after two years of closures and restrictions to limit the spread of Covid-19. Moreover, the Erbil governorate declared that the public holiday starts on the 25th and ends on the second of January. In this respect, markets and restaurants were flooded with cheerful customers.