Rio launches festive Christmas tree display

Rio de Janeiro opened its Christmas season with the unveiling of an 80‑metre Christmas tree on Botafogo beach, attracting thousands who applauded as the towering installation lit up Guanabara Bay. The tree, comparable to a 30‑storey building, is fitted with 2.3 million LED lights that cycle through intricate colour patterns and imagery evoking the city’s natural beauty, including motifs of sun and sea alongside traditional holiday hues. Positioned on a floating platform anchored offshore beneath Sugarloaf Mountain, the structure is engineered to withstand coastal winds and remain lit throughout the festive period.

The inauguration featured a choreographed spectacle: every half hour a water‑ballet show combines lights, special effects and synchronized movements of fountains and ocean water, creating a multimedia performance visible from the shoreline. Crowds lining the beachfront—families, tourists and locals—cheered as the display illuminated the bay, while vendors, musicians and food stalls created a wider festive atmosphere along the sand. Organisers said the Botafogo installation was conceived as a new vantage point for holiday spectators, expanding access to a major centerpiece so residents from different neighbourhoods need not travel to the city’s traditional floating tree at Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas.

City officials framed the new attraction as part of a broader effort to revive Christmas programming after several years of scaled‑down celebrations, introducing multiple light installations across public spaces to boost community spirit and draw visitors. Authorities emphasised both safety and durability in the tree’s design, noting measures taken for coastal conditions and crowd management during nightly shows expected to attract large audiences over the season.

Residents greeted the return of large‑scale festive lighting as a welcome sign of normalcy amid economic strains and public‑service challenges, saying the spectacle lifted spirits and reinforced Rio’s global image as a seaside city that blends cultural pageantry with natural scenery. Tourism stakeholders highlighted the tree’s potential to extend evening foot traffic along the bay and benefit local vendors and entertainers.

The programmed half‑hour shows pair music with visual effects to create repeatable viewing experiences for audiences spread along Botafogo and adjacent viewpoints.