third in line after carnival and réveillon, the inauguration of the giant floating christmas tree of lagoa is now one of the biggest events in rio de janeiro's calendar.

marking the beginning of the christmas season, a huge party complete with fireworks, bands, and musical performers attracts thousands of people both from rio and from the rest of brazil.

floating on the 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.

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 de freitas, with many renting paddleboats swans to take a closer look on the water.