Bars toast holiday season in Lebanon

BEIRUT — In the early afternoon along Armenia Street in Mar Mikhael, one of Beirut’s vibrant nightlife hubs, bar staff set up for the long night ahead. While some turned chairs, others prepped the bar and unpacked boxes of Christmas decorations for the much-anticipated holiday business.

“A lot of Lebanese come back for the holidays and they come with fresh dollars, so they end up spending a lot of money,” says Mark Hayek, a bartender at Internazionale Bar, one of the first to open along the street.