perhaps the most important family event in rio, over the entire month of december, hundreds of thousands brazilians come to greet the festivities with their children around the lagoa, with many renting paddleboats swans to take a closer look on the water.  

standing 82 meters (250 feet) tall, this is the biggest floating christmas tree in the world -  the tree features 3.1 million light bulbs, impressive lighting effects, nightly water ballets, and music on the week-ends.

floating on the the iconic rodrigo de freitas lake behind ipanema from the first week in december to epiphany in january, this holiday landmark livens up the skyline with constantly changing light patterns and weekly musical shows.