with 250 feet of ever-changing led lights floating on a lake in the middle of the city, light shows, nightly water ballets and huge concerts every weekend through the holiday season this tree has become a landmark in carioca's culture and calendar.

christmas in rio, however, goes well beyond the christmas tree in lagoa - in fact, throughout the month of december, there are shows and events at every turn in rio, with impressive public nativity scenes in the centro at largo da carioca and in ipanema at praça da paz.

the largest and most intricate of these make up the festival de presépios, one of the largest open-air exhibition of nativity scenes in the world.