Despite the rain that fell the last night of 2011, which stopped a few minutes before 24 tons of fireworks were set off, 2 million Brazilians weren’t deterred from attending Rio de Janeiro’s main New Year’s festival, an event that was confirmed to be the largest of its kind in the world.
Partygoers at the so-called Réveillon on Copacabana beach, their white garments contrasting with the colors of umbrellas and raincoats, enjoyed a 16 and a half minutes of fireworks extravaganza as well as musical performances on four stages.
In spite of the light but persistent rain, which forced many tourists and local residents to seek refuge in nearby bars and other establishments along Copacabana beach, the drizzle stopped about 11:30 pm on time for people to rush to the beach for a privileged position from where to watch the fantastic fireworks display along the 4 kilometers of Brazil’s most famous beach.
Police confirmed that about 2 million people gathered at the site, allowing the World Travel Guild tourism association to claim that the Copacabana Réveillon was the world’s largest New Year’s Eve festival.
“I come from New York. I was at parties in Asia, Europe and Oceania, but nobody organizes a New Year’s party like Rio de Janeiro,” Ian Erix, a representative of World Travel Guild, said after witnessing the gigantic 22.000 fireworks display.
The fireworks were launched into the sky from 11 barges moored off the beach by the Barcelona-based Spanish firm Pirotecnia Igual, which once again won the public bidding held by the Rio mayor’s office to stage the New Year’s Eve show.
The seven first aid stations set up at Copacabana attended to about 250 people most of whom had consumed too much alcohol or had sustained minor cuts, but there were no serious incidents, the health department said.
The Copacabana celebration was followed this year, for the first time, by hundreds of tourists from the terraces of the homes in the Rocinha “favela,” or shantytown, Rio’s largest slum and one which was “pacified” by the police about a month ago after decades of domination by drug trafficking gangs.
São Paulo’s main New Year’s Eve party also drew about 2 million people in Brazil’s largest city under rainy skies to central Paulista Avenue. There, too, numerous musical groups performed and the public was treated to a 13-minute fireworks display to welcome the New Year.
