Rio de Janeiro ready to roll its motley New Year’s Eve bash

Rio de Janeiro’s Mayor Office is all set for a much gaudier and brighter New Year’s Eve celebration that could gather as many as 2.5 million people at Copacabana Beach, the city’s premiere playground for tourists.

For this new version of the party, that Brazilians have dubbed with the French word reveillion, the traditional fireworks display will last longer than in previous editions, said Ruben Medina, Tourism Secretary in Rio de Janeiro.

The 12-minute show will feature over 20,000 fireworks –some 156 tons in all- that will light up the sea and the beach once they are launched out from eight rafts anchored 360 meters off the coastline.

As a complement, a 400-meter-long fire cascade will fall from the stone walls of the Copacabana Fortress in the southernmost tip of the beach, while a similar spectacle will be seen on the opposite side of the city down from the façade of the Meridien Hotel.

Three stages set along the beach will open from 10:00 pm with presentations of top performers and some of the city’s finest samba schools, all arrayed in line with last year’s ratings.

Far from Copacabana, there’ll be similar but humbler parties alongside Rio’s shoreline from Paqueta Island in the heart of the Guanabara Bay, dotting Gobernador Island, the Flamingo Park, Ipanema and Barra da Tijuca all the way to the suburban beach of Guaratiba.

One of the most jaw-dropping presentations of the Brazilian reveillion is the huge scores of people that swarm over the premises. Regardless of the city’s ill-fated reputation as a place of rampant crime, grime and slime, this kind of party traditionally goes on without any violent incident.

Sources close to the celebrations argue the biggest challenge for law enforcement agencies is the large number of visitors that must be treated for intoxication during the New Year’s Eve festivities.