Colorful Christmas and Hanukkah celebrations took place around the Bay Area and worldwide on Wednesday.
Pope Francis in his traditional Christmas message on Wednesday urged “all people of all nations” to find courage during this Holy Year “to silence the sounds of arms and overcome divisions” plaguing the world, from the Middle East to Ukraine, Africa to Asia.
Here in California, among the elite class of Bay Area holiday lights enthusiasts, Joseph Leake goes the extra mile – literally – to transform his family’s property into a bright and brilliant spectacle every winter season.
Leake lives in San Francisco, where he often works long weeks and double shifts in the Sheriff’s Department’s DNA and forensics unit.
This year, Leake’s portfolio as a holiday lights enthusiast is growing as he takes over running the famous California Christmas Lights website. The site has become the go-to place for Bay Area people who want to enjoy a festive winter night outing by exploring extraordinary holiday lights displays in their neighborhoods or nearby communities.
Click here to see where to view the best local holiday light displays.
Swimmers celebrate after taking part in the Christmas Day race for the Peter Pan cup in the Serpentine lake in Hyde Park in London, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Christmas lights display at 578 Flagler Street in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
A person dressed as Santa Claus working for tips waits for cusotmers near the the Rockfeller Christmas Tree on Christmas Day on Dec. 25, 2024 in New York City. For the first time since 2005 the first night of Hanukkah falls on the same day as Christmas. The area is one of the nation’s most popular destinations for shopping and entertainment during the holiday season. (Photo by Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images) *** BESTPIX ***
TOPSHOT – Worshippers of the Legio Maria African Church Mission attend the Christmas Eve vigil mass at St. Helena Mathare Parish in the informal settlement of Mathare in Nairobi, Kenya in the early hours of Dec. 25, 2024. Legio Maria is an African independent religious movement among particularly the Luo people of western Kenya that developed gradually and eventually separated from the Roman Catholic Church in the 1960s. The religious movement was initiated by repeated appearances of a mystic woman delivering messages about the incarnation of the Son of God as a black man. (Photo by SIMON MAINA/AFP via Getty Images)
Tourists wearing hats pose for a photo next to a Christmas tree on Christmas Day at Bondi Beach in Sydney on Dec. 25, 2024. (Photo by David Gray /AFP via Getty Images)
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, top left, with others including Rabbi Levi Shemtov and Rabbi Abraham Shemtov, light the National Menorah in celebration of the first night of Hanukkah, during an event sponsored by the American Friends of Lubavitch, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024, on The Ellipse in Washington. The eight-day Jewish holiday began at sundown and this year coincided with Christmas Day. At right the National Christmas Tree is also visible, with the White House at left. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Britt Allen, of Livermore, plays with her children, Wyatt, 3, and Aubree, 5, left, as snow from a snowing machine falls as part of the Christmas display at Alex Dourov’s Knottingham Circle extravaganza in Livermore, Calif., on Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
In this photo provided by Vatican Media, Pope Francis presides over the Christmas Eve Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica at The Vatican, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024. (Mario Tomassetti/Vatican Media via AP)
Kate Princess of Wales smiles as holds a bouquet of flowers gives to her by well-wishers after she attended the Christmas day service at St Mary Magdalene Church in Sandringham in Norfolk, England, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Jon Super)
Visitors walk at a Christmas light tunnel during the 2024 New Taipei Christmasland on Christmas eve in New Taipei City on Dec. 24, 2024. (Photo by I-Hwa Cheng/AFP via Getty Images)
Carlos Hebert Plante, dressed as Santa Claus to hit the water amid an air temperature of -14 degrees Celsius on Christmas Day, in Montreal, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024. (Bernard Brault /The Canadian Press via AP)
A Christmas tree glows during dusk at South Shore Center in Alameda, Calif., on Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
A person in an all red outfit walks in Times Square on Christmas Day on Dec. 25, 2024 in New York City. For the first time since 2005 the first night of Hanukkah falls on the same day as Christmas. The area is one of the nation’s most popular destinations for shopping and entertainment during the holiday season. (Photo by Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images)
A holiday light display on Kilkenny Place is is reflected on the lagoon in Alameda, Calif., on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
Christians attend the Christmas Mass at Sacred Heart Cathedral Church, in Lahore, Pakistan, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)
“Christmas Tree Lane” holiday light displays glow in this slow-shutter speed zoom exposure on Thompson Avenue in Alameda, Calif., on Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
Children look inside the church filled with devotees singing carols and praying in Kathmandu, Nepal, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)
Visitors tour the 41st annual Deacon Dave’s Christmas display at Casa del Pomba in Livermore, Calif., on Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. The Deacon Dave Rezendes’s world-famous home features more than 900,000 lights glowing around his property. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
A man wearing a national costume celebrates Christmas near St. Michael Monastery in a city centre in Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
Even pets are mesmerized by the 41st annual Deacon Dave’s Christmas display at Casa del Pomba in Livermore, Calif., on Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. The Deacon Dave Rezendes’s world-famous home features more than 900,000 lights glowing around his property. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)