In Brazil's New Year's Eve celebrations, Copacabana Beach hosts Rio de Janeiro's famous Réveillon gathering.
The event is one of the world's largest New Year's celebrations, combining concerts, large crowds, and fireworks over the Atlantic Ocean. Revelers commonly wear white, a color associated in Brazilian New Year's customs with peace and renewal, although other colors also carry popular symbolic meanings.
Fireworks are launched from barges offshore, allowing the display to be seen along the broad Copacabana shoreline. The beachfront setting has made the celebration especially recognizable in international broadcasts and travel coverage.
Copacabana is sometimes confused with nearby Ipanema, another internationally famous Rio beach. Ipanema also hosts celebrations, but the signature mass Réveillon gathering and its best-known fireworks setting are associated with Copacabana Beach.