Rio de Janeiro – Copacabana expects 2 million people for New Year’s Eve party

The 450th anniversary of the Marvelous City will be the theme of the biggest New Year’s Eve event in open air in the world: the New Year’s Eve in Copacabana. The event will start the celebrations, which begins at the turn of 2015, and continues until February 2016. The event aims to share with the world the exhilarating joy of Rio, the amazing Carnival, that is successful worldwide and the beauty of Rio summer.

RIOTUR – The City of Rio Tourism Board announced, in a press conference held on December 10 that the party attracts over 2 million people. It is expected that 816,000 tourists arrive in the city in the period, moving $ 650 million, an increase of 6% compared to the number for 2013 (767,000) and 5.5% in revenue (614 million dollars).

The average occupancy rate in hotels should be around 73%, as reported by the first preview survey by the Hotel Association. Five star hotels are among the most popular, with occupancy at around 80%. The turn of the night is the busiest – December 31 for the January 1 – reaching 85% in reservations, made so far in the five-star hotels. New research will be published in the week of Christmas, enabling the data updating.

The feast will feature a fireworks show with some unprecedented effects, in allusion to the City 450 Anniversary, with a soundtrack created especially for the occasion. In all, 11 barges will carry 24 tons of fireworks facing Copacabana Beach. On three stages mounted on the sands, famous Brazilian musicians and live bands such as Seu Jorge, Titans, Maria Rita, Roupa Nova and Revelation will animate the event, along with the traditional parade of the Rio Samba Schools Carnival groups.

Festivities are not exclusive of Copacabana Beach. Other neighborhoods, around the City, will have animated programming, DJs, samba schools and live bands.