Copacabana Beach is the main site of Rio de Janeiro's famous New Year's Eve fireworks celebration.
The celebration, commonly called Réveillon in Brazil, draws enormous crowds to the broad beach and its Avenida Atlântica waterfront. Fireworks are launched from barges offshore, allowing spectators along the shoreline to watch the display over the Atlantic Ocean.
Many attendees wear white, a color associated with peace and renewal, and some make offerings to Iemanjá, an important figure in Afro-Brazilian religious traditions. Concerts, stages, and illuminated hotels add to the event's scale, although exact programming changes from year to year.
Copacabana is sometimes confused with Rio's other famous beaches, especially Ipanema. Ipanema is also a major tourist landmark, but the internationally recognized New Year's Eve gathering is centered on Copacabana Beach.