In Russia and much of Eastern Europe, the arrival of someone named "Grandfather Frost" is what children are eagerly anticipating. Grandfather Frost, too, drives a sleigh drawn by reindeer, and is accompanied by a young helper named the "Snow Maiden," who is believed to be his granddaughter. Although, like Santa, he delivers gifts to all the good children, he uses the front door rather than the chimney to drop off gifts and eat the food that the children of the house leave for him.
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Ilya Naymushin/Reuters
A man dressed as Grandfather Frost (also known as Father Frost) the equivalent of Santa Claus, and a child touch an Evenki reindeer at the Christmas food fair in central Krasnoyarsk, on Dec. 18.