Within its Christmas festivities for this year, the Badaro Traders Committee kicked off the Badaro Magical Christmas (Badaro main street, December 9-10) inaugurating the holiday season. The aim of the event is to spread joy, strengthen relations among residents of this Beiruti neighborhood and promote touristic institutions as well as social, commercial and economic establishments, a statement by the BTC said. The event included a food court and a kids’ area. The minister of tourism, Avedis Guidanian, toured the venue’s different sections accompanied by an ISF cavalry and music squads and a cycling parade. One part of the street ‘the art street’ was dedicated to art, and hosted some 50 artists who showcased their paintings or sketched live in front of passers-by. (Al Diyar, December 9, 2017)