It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas in Hamilton.

Garden Place has been renamed Christmas Place and is home to the country's largest Christmas tree, at 27 metres tall.

Mayor Julie Hardaker says as well as the new ice free ice skating rink there's lots of new activities in the CBD.

"We've got some new lights going up around Garden Place, we've got some great chess board and big games that people can play.

"We're also having a 'come get your pets to meet Santa and get a photograph day'."