Santa Claus Congress in Copenhagen, Danmark It's July — and the Christmas tree is lit, bells are jingling and jolly elves are doing "hula-hoops" on stage. What else could it be but the annual World Santa Claus Congress — filling a Danish amusement park with summer Christmas merriment for the 51st consecutive year. Five months ahead of the holidays, nearly 140 St. Nicks kicked off their three-day convention Monday at the Bakken park north of Copenhagen. Most were from Scandinavia but some came from as far away as Russia, Japan and the United States. Visitors lined up to watch the Santas, the Mrs. Clauses and all their little helpers parade through the park, bellowing "Ho-hos" and singing Christmas carols. Other activities included a bicycle parade, "hula-hoop" twirls and a brief swim in Copenhagen's famous harbor. One of Monday's highlights was the obstacle course, where bearded Kris Kringles raced past a sleigh and up a small hill built of ice before climbing down a fake chimney. Later this week, they were also to visit children in a nearby hospital, cruise through the Danish capital in a sightseeing boat and hold tounge-in-cheek seminars about the 21st century challenges facing their vocation. "We have real modern-time problems we need to discuss with our colleagues," said Fred Rootveld, a Dutch Sinterklaas. "How do we get into people's homes when there are no chimneys on the houses to climb down?" Delegates go by a range of different names — from the French Papa Noel to the Danish Julemand to St. Nick — but the Bakken park said "they are all real Santas." While that claim could not be confirmed, there's no doubt the festival has become increasingly popular since it was first held in 1957 as a purely local event. "You really get in the Christmas spirit ahead of time," said Tony Zehavi, spokesman for the event.  (Agencies)

七月盛夏，圣誕樹亮起了彩燈，鈴兒響叮當(dāng)，快樂的精靈們在舞臺上齊轉(zhuǎn)呼啦圈。 除了一年一度的世界圣誕老人大會外，沒有什么能讓丹麥的游樂園充滿如此喜慶的夏日圣誕氣氛。今年是丹麥連續(xù)第51年舉辦世界圣誕老人大會。 近140位圣誕老人于本周一齊聚哥本哈根北部的巴肯公園，參加為期三天的圣誕老人大會，此時(shí)距圣誕節(jié)還有五個(gè)月的時(shí)間。其中大部分圣誕老人來自斯堪的納維亞半島，而另一些則從俄羅斯、日本和美國遠(yuǎn)道而來。 圣誕老人、圣誕婆婆帶著精靈小助手們在公園里盛裝游行，游行隊(duì)伍唱著圣誕頌歌，不時(shí)揚(yáng)起“呵呵”的爽朗笑聲，引得游人們排著隊(duì)爭相觀看。此外，圣誕老人們還將參加自行車游行、轉(zhuǎn)呼啦圈和在哥本哈根著名港口短距離游泳等活動。 本周一的最大熱點(diǎn)是障礙賽，戴著大胡子的圣誕老人要先跑過一個(gè)雪橇，再爬上一座小冰山，然后再從一個(gè)假煙囪上爬下來。 本周晚些時(shí)候，圣誕老人們還將前往附近一家醫(yī)院探訪在那里住院的孩子們，此后他們將乘坐觀光船游覽丹麥?zhǔn)锥?，之后會就圣誕老人職業(yè)在21世紀(jì)面臨的新挑戰(zhàn)進(jìn)行一系列趣味研討。 來自荷蘭的圣誕老人弗雷德?魯特費(fèi)爾德說：“我們將與同行們探討在現(xiàn)代社會遇到的一些現(xiàn)實(shí)問題。比如，當(dāng)人們的住宅沒有煙囪可爬時(shí)，我們?nèi)绾芜M(jìn)屋？” 與會代表們的名字五花八門——有法國的“諾爾爸爸”，還有丹麥的Julemand和圣?尼克。但巴肯公園介紹說：“他們都是真正的圣誕老人”。 雖然這一說法無從考證，但這一盛會自1957年推出至今越來越受歡迎，這是毋庸置疑的。當(dāng)時(shí)，這一盛會只是一個(gè)地方性的聯(lián)歡活動。 該活動發(fā)言人托尼?澤阿維說：“你真的能提前感受到圣誕的氣氛。” 點(diǎn)擊查看更多雙語新聞   （英語點(diǎn)津Helen 姍姍編輯）

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