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Men shout messages of love during the annual event. One Japanese writer says the country has "always been in a crisis romance-wise."

A boat navigates the Xingu River last June, near the Belo Monte dam site. The controversial $16 billion project is one of around 60 hydroelectric projects Brazil has planned in the Amazon to generate electricity for its rapidly expanding economy.

A resident stands in the low-lying Invasao dos Padres neighborhood, which stands to be flooded by the Belo Monte dam. Houses are constructed on stilts to protect against seasonal flooding. The government says residents forced to relocate because of the dam will be compensated, and that most will benefit from relocation.

While environmentalists and indigenous groups oppose the Belo Monte dam, many Brazilians support the project.

Protesters demonstrate against the Forest Code and Belo Monte dam project at the Rio+20 countersummit last June, in Rio de Janeiro. The summit aimed to overcome years of deadlock over environmental concerns.

Residents affected by the Belo Monte dam and their supporters stand atop a temporary earthen dam spelling out the words "Pare Belo Monte," meaning "Stop Belo Monte," at the dam construction site last June. Demonstrators also removed a strip of earth to restore the flow of the Xingu River as a protest against the construction.

A man flips into a stream leading to the Xingu River. The area is challenged by deforestation; agriculture; mining; a governmental dam building spree; illegal land speculation, including the occupation of forest reserves and indigenous land; and other issues.

Construction continued at the Belo Monte dam complex in the Amazon basin near Altamira, Brazil, in June 2012. Belo Monte will be the world's third-largest hydroelectric project, and will displace up to 20,000 people living near the Xingu River.