New Year's Eve celebrations in Copacabana won't be dimmed even amid Brazil's economic crisis

When cariocas (Rio de Janeiro locals) pack Copacabana to bring in 2017, they will experience a fireworks display, live musical performances and beefed-up security. For the first time, however, the traditional 16-minute firework show will be reduced to 12 minutes because of the state’s financial crisis.

Réveillon de Copacabana, as cariocas call it, is considered to be one of the best New Year’s Eve parties in the world. Rio’s outgoing secretary for tourism Antonio Pedro Figueira de Mello, explains that the Réveillon de Copacabana is one of the largest outdoor New Year’s Eve events of its kind in the world, and it is an event that has great emotional resonance for Rio. Apart from Copacabana, there are nine other places in Rio where cariocas celebrate New Year’s.

When the clock strikes 12, fireworks in the shape of hearts, daisies, palm trees and smiley faces will erupt, triggered by a computerised process, and last for 12 amazing minutes. Pirotecnia Igual Brasil, the Spanish company that is responsible for the firework show, has already assembled 11 ferries containing fireworks, a few hundred meters from the Copacabana shore. The party attracts close to a million people from all over the world who pack the Copacabana beach in Rio to see the fireworks, and the count down to the New Year. There are also musical performances by traditional Brazilian artists.

Mukesh Kumar from Ludhiana, Punjab, has been living in Brazil since 2012. He says that the New Year’s Eve party at Copacabana is among the best experiences of his life and the fireworks show is a class apart. He admits that with the party in Rio, there are security concerns, but the city does reinforce the police cover during this time of the year.

Brazil is one of those countries that celebrates the New Year in summer. Thus the temperature in Rio — around 40°C — is perfect for beach parties. Nicole Paque, a French tourist, arrived in Rio a couple of days ago. It is her second visit to Rio and during her last trip she was greeted with cloudy skies and consistent rain. “Clear blue sky and hot weather — I love Copacabana!" bikini-clad Paque told us. “I am lucky that I can take a dip in the sea and get a nice sun tan. It makes me really happy.”

Secretary de Mello says that in previous years, sponsors would queue up to pay the reveillon expenses. This year, the ongoing crisis has made finding sponsors difficult. “We have invested almost $ 1.5 million this year. We are expecting close to 8.65 lakh tourists in Rio over the next few days, generating a revenue of $ 690 million for the city. Thus our investment in Reveillon de Copacabana is important for Rio and for Brazil. We would like to sign off by celebrating the great moments the city has lived in the last eight years and hope for a better future for Rio and for Brazil,” he says.

The celebrations usually leave behind a big pile of trash. Last year, the sanitation crews got to work right on the early hours of 1 January, mopping up the aftermath of the celebration, working through the night to rid the area of an estimated 300 tons of trash. More than 1100 workers were involved in the action that lasted for more than 4 hours over an area spread across 5 km. Will the celebrations this year be cleaner? We’l just have to wait and watch.