Brazil lights up annual floating Christmas tree.

RIO DE JANEIRO: The lights are blazing from the world's largest floating Christmas tree -- a gigantic 85-metre high metal structure set on a lagoon in Rio de Janeiro.

Despite the rain, some 100,000 people flocked around the Rodrigo de Freitas lagoon on Saturday (December 5) night to watch the fireworks show which has become one of the city's main tourist attractions over the past decade.

This year, the tree constructed by Brazil's largest insurance company features images of Christmas wreaths flickering from its nearly three million lights.

Moema Garcia who watched the show with her mother said the bad weather didn't get in the way of the event.

"Every year (the lighting show) is good, but today was specially beautiful. The rain wasn't trouble at all. And I hope the love remains in everybody's hearts because that is what matters and not tree itself, which is beautiful. (I hope) that everybody is more considering with the others and that kindness begets kindness," she said.

With the mountain-top Christ the Redeemer statue looking down on it, the tree stands as a brightly flashing symbol of peace in one of the world's most violent cities.

"It (the floating christmas tree) is good because it represents a moment of peace in Rio. We see so much war, we live with so much violence in Rio, and this shows a little bit of the union, the harmony that Rio also has. Rio is not just about violence, there are also very good moments for the residents to enjoy," said Alan Patrick, who went to the show with his wife.

The Christmas tree, first erected in 1996, is Rio de Janeiro's third biggest tourist event after the pre-lenten Carnival and New Year's Eve on Copacabana and other beaches.

More than a million people are expected to view the structure before the lights are turned off on January 6.

The Guinness Book of Records lists it as the world's largest floating Christmas tree.

In comparison, the Christmas tree in New York's Rockefeller Center is 22 meters tall and has 30,000 lights, although it is a real Norwegian spruce.