3. Romanian Parliament lit up in colours of Romanian national flag, pull-out to decorated boulevard
4. Christmas lights
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Anca Vianu, resident:
"This year the Christmas decorations are very poor, there are fewer than years before and it's pretty sad because we need more light in these pandemic days to be a hope for the new year."
6. Various of man playing Romanian traditional Christmas carols on violin
Romania's capital Bucharest was lit up with Christmas lights on Wednesday to celebrate the festive season.
Ten million LED lights shine every night in the Romanian capital, illuminating 40 kilometers of boulevards and streets throughout the holiday season.
The turning on of the lights in the capital is normally a landmark event that draws thousands to the streets and creates traffic jams in the following days as people drive downtown to see the installations across the central area of the city.
The COVID-19 pandemic prompted authorities to delay the event this year and keep it a secret so that people would not gather in large numbers and increase the spread of the virus.
The cost of the Christmas lights is estimated to be about 2.7 million euros, based on Bucharest city hall reports.
Before 1989 Christmas was not officially celebrated in Romania and Communist authorities kept the signs of the holiday season to an all but unnoticeable level in the country's main cities.
