It's July — and the Christmas tree is lit, bells are jingling¹ 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 consecutive² 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, bellowing³ "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 vocation⁴.

"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 purely⁵ local event.

"You really get in the Christmas spirit ahead of time," said Tony Zehavi, spokesman for the event.

七月盛夏，圣诞树亮起了彩灯，铃儿响叮当，快乐的精灵们在舞台上齐转呼啦圈。

除了一年一度的世界圣诞老人大会外，没有什么能让丹麦的游乐园充满如此喜庆的夏日圣诞气氛。今年是丹麦连续第51年举办世界圣诞老人大会。

近140位圣诞老人于本周一齐聚哥本哈根北部的巴肯公园，参加为期三天的圣诞老人大会，此时距圣诞节还有五个月的时间。其中大部分圣诞老人来自斯堪的纳维亚半岛，而另一些则从俄罗斯、日本和美国远道而来。

圣诞老人、圣诞婆婆带着精灵小助手们在公园里盛装游行，游行队伍唱着圣诞颂歌，不时扬起“呵呵”的爽朗笑声，引得游人们排着队争相观看。此外，圣诞老人们还将参加自行车游行、转呼啦圈和在哥本哈根著名港口短距离游泳等活动。

本周一的最大热点是障碍赛，戴着大胡子的圣诞老人要先跑过一个雪橇，再爬上一座小冰山，然后再从一个假烟囱上爬下来。

本周晚些时候，圣诞老人们还将前往附近一家医院探访在那里住院的孩子们，此后他们将乘坐观光船游览丹麦首都，之后会就圣诞老人职业在21世纪面临的新挑战进行一系列趣味研讨。

来自荷兰的圣诞老人弗雷德•鲁特费尔德说：“我们将与同行们探讨在现代社会遇到的一些现实问题。比如，当人们的住宅没有烟囱可爬时，我们如何进屋？”

与会代表们的名字五花八门——有法国的“诺尔爸爸”，还有丹麦的Julemand和圣•尼克。但巴肯公园介绍说：“他们都是真正的圣诞老人”。

虽然这一说法无从考证，但这一盛会自1957年推出至今越来越受欢迎，这是毋庸置疑的。当时，这一盛会只是一个地方性的联欢活动。

该活动发言人托尼•泽阿维说：“你真的能提前感受到圣诞的气氛。”