Free Christmas Backgrounds & Pictures: 97 Photos

97 free Christmas pictures from the BigFoto library: streets and shop fronts under thousands of lights, Christmas trees in squares and living rooms, stars, bells and baubles up close, Santa Claus climbing walls and riding a motorbike, Advent calendar windows, houses and gardens lit up for the season, nativity scenes, snowmen and presents. Many were taken in the old towns of Switzerland.

Need a plain background for a card, a slide or a video call? See our AI Christmas backgrounds: 30 images made with AI, also free to use.

Use them as a Christmas background for cards and invitations, social media posts, slides, a website header or a festive video call. The dark photos of lights and close-ups of decorations leave room for your own text.

How to download: click a photo to see it large, then use Download. The originals are about 1200 × 800 pixels: right for blog posts, slides, social media, school projects and video call backgrounds.

Christmas lights in the streets

Curtains and garlands of small lights over shopping streets, lit-up hotels and department stores, and old towns glowing on a winter evening.

Curtains of lights over a shopping street

Christmas trees

Big trees in squares and in front of buildings, a tree trimmed with red bells, and trees made of lights.

Stars, bells and baubles

Close-ups of decorations: a neon bell, candles, ribbons and bows, glass baubles in a shop window, straw and light stars, and ornaments on a fir branch. These make the best plain backgrounds.

Santa Claus

Santa on a Harley, Santa climbing up the walls, Santa in the window, Santa with his sleigh and reindeer in lights, and whole families of Santas and snowmen for sale.

Advent windows

Windows lit one by one as a giant Advent calendar, with numbers, stars, snowmen and angels.

Houses and gardens lit up

Chalets, farmhouses and gardens outlined in lights, with figures on the lawn and a wreath on the door.

Chalet balcony with sleigh and snowflakes

Nativity scenes, snowmen and presents

Cribs with the Holy Family, shepherds and the donkey, a Christmas tram, market stalls, presents in lights and a snowman.

Where Christmas traditions come from

Many of our Christmas traditions were celebrated centuries before Christ was born. Giving gifts, the Yule log, carol singing, church processions and the 12 days of Christmas can all be traced back to the early Mesopotamians.

Sacaea, celebrated by the Persians and Babylonians, was a similar festival during which slaves and masters would exchange roles.

Early Europeans believed in evil spirits and as the dark days of winter approached, special rituals and celebrations were held to drive out evil and welcome back the sun.

During winter in Scandinavia the sun would disappear for many days. When it returned a Yuletide celebration was held and a special feast served around a burning Yule log fire.

The Roman’s celebrated their god Saturn with a festival called Saturnalia which ran from 17 to 24 December. Celebrations included masquerades in the streets, festive meals, visits to friends and the exchange of good-luck gifts. The Romans used decorations of garlands of laurel and green trees lit with candles. The fun and festivities in honour of a pagan god were frowned on by the early Christians who wanted to keep the birth of Christ a solemn, religious festival.

Some theories claim that the Christmas celebration was invented by the Christians to compete against the pagan December celebrations. Eventually the church succeeded in integrating some of the merriment, lights and gifts from the Saturnalia festival into Christmas celebrations.

The Celtic culture of the British Isles revered all green plants, particularly mistletoe and holly. These were important symbols of fertility and used for decorating homes and altars.

The exact day of Christ’s birth is not known. Traditions say that it was celebrated as early 98 AD. In 137 AD, the Bishop of Rome ordered Christ’s birthday to be celebrated as a solemn feast. In 350 AD, the then Bishop of Rome, Julius I, choose December 25th for the observance of Christmas.

The earliest English reference to 25 December as Christmas Day dates from 1043.

Christmas celebrations have always been controversial as many of the festive traditions have their roots in paganism. Frivolity and feasting, the giving of gifts and frequent excesses have always been in complete contrast to the simplicity of the Nativity and are often condemned as contrary to the true spirit of Christmas.

Although not the original purpose of the day, Christmas remains a traditional time for families to meet, enjoy a meal, and make merry.

Wherever you are and however you choose to celebrate, we wish you a Merry Christmas!

More free photos

Questions about these Christmas photos

Can I use these Christmas pictures for free?

Yes, for personal and commercial projects. All we ask is a link back to BigFoto.com; the box at the top of the page has a credit link you can copy.

Which photos work best as a Christmas background?

The close-ups of baubles, stars and lights on a dark ground, and the streets full of lights, leave space for text on cards, posts and slides; the Advent windows work well as a festive video call background.