BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- From a distance, it looks like an apparition: a huge multi-colored hot-air balloon floating in the Baghdad sky, bearing a large poster of Jesus Christ. Below it, an Iraqi flag. Santa and his helpers stand under palm trees at Baghdad's first public Christmas festival. Welcome to the first-ever public Christmas celebration in Baghdad, held Saturday and sponsored by the Iraqi Interior Ministry. Once thought to be infiltrated by death squads, the Ministry now is trying to root out sectarian violence -- as well as improve its P.R. image. The event takes place in a public park in eastern Baghdad, ringed with security checkpoints. Interior Ministry forces deployed on surrounding rooftops peer down at the scene: a Christmas tree decorated with ornaments and tinsel; a red-costumed Santa Claus waving to the crowd, an Iraqi flag draped over his shoulders; a red-and-black-uniformed military band playing stirring martial music, not Christmas carols.
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Iraq's first public Christmas party decorated with Jesus, Santa, Christmas tree
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Celebration put on by Interior Ministry to "strengthen community ties"
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Kids' art projects show Baghdad scenes, including one with toy as dead "terrorist"
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Christian priest at celebration says Baghdad changes give him hope
He knows firsthand how difficult the lot of @placeholder in Iraq is but, he tells me, "We are just attesting that things are changing in Baghdad, slowly, but we hope that this change actually is real.