Rio de Janeiro is the Brazilian city home to the New Year's Eve fireworks celebration at Copacabana Beach.
Copacabana is a neighborhood and beach in Rio de Janeiro, one of Brazil's best-known coastal cities. Its broad shoreline and position on the Atlantic make it a natural setting for a massive public celebration. The event commonly features music stages, fireworks, decorated boats, and crowds dressed in white.
Rio's Réveillon combines secular entertainment with cultural and religious practices. Some celebrants make offerings to Iemanjá, an orixá associated with the sea in Afro-Brazilian religious traditions. Others follow customs such as wearing colors associated with particular wishes for the coming year.
The city itself is sometimes confused with São Paulo because both are major Brazilian metropolitan centers. São Paulo hosts its own New Year's gatherings, but the internationally iconic beach fireworks tradition belongs to Rio de Janeiro's Copacabana shoreline.