The Hindu Business Line : Samba, Choppe and fireworks...

The Copacabana New Year's Eve party is the biggest in the world. On December 31, 2006, there were an estimated two million people in the beach, partying all night. The crowd is bigger than in Sydney, New York or London.

The setting for the party is the most spectacular in the world. The four-km stretch of beach has the bluish Guanabara Bay on one side and mountains rising steeply just a few hundred metres on the other side. On top of the Corcovado Mountain on the left, the 30-metre-high Jesus Christ opens his huge hands to embrace the people below. The majestic Sugarloaf Mountain stands as a breathtaking backdrop on the right side. The lights from the yachts anchored in the bay and the illumination of the sea-front buildings form a diamond necklace around the beach.

The crowd looks like a white sea as most Brazilians wear white T-shirts and dress for good luck in the new year. Even the flowers exchanged on that day are mostly white.

The party picks up rhythm around seven in the evening when live bands start playing Samba, rock and pop music from the four special stages set on different parts of the beach. Dancing is more vigorous around the stages.

The sky over the beach turns stunning and dazzling with the fireworks at midnight. About 20 tonnes of material is fired from the boats in the bay. This is echoed by the cascade fireworks from the Copacabana Fort on one side and the Meridian Hotel, the tallest building in the beach, on the other side.

The New Year party is different from the Carnival celebrations, which are on the wilder side. The venue of the main Carnival parades is the Sambadrome, a special stadium built for the purpose. People need to buy tickets, costing around $75, to watch the parades. But the Copacabana beach party on New Year is open and free, and people join spontaneously. More than 100,000 foreign tourists join the celebrations.

A religious dimension is added to the celebrations by the Afro-Brazilians who assemble in the beach early in the evening to pray to their patron saint and Goddess of Sea — Eemanja, for her blessings for the new year. They get together in small groups and offer flowers, fruits, liquor and sweets to the statues of saints placed in the sand altars inside small horseshoe-shaped trenches, surrounded by lighted candles. After the ceremony, they put the flowers and other offerings as well as lighted candles in miniature blue sailboats and let them float on the sea. If the sailboat floats out to sea, it is believed that Eemanjá has accepted the offerings and you will be granted protection and good fortune in the new year. It is not a good sign if the boat returns to shore.

Brazilians eat lentil and rice on January 1, as they believe this brings good fortune in the year ahead.

Besides the big party on the beach, there are private parties in the elegant apartments facing the beach and also in the luxurious yachts anchored in the bay. Beer flows like water at the party in the beach. Most Brazilians prefer drinking draught beer called "Choppe". Some drink the typical Brazilian cocktail "Caipirinha" made with cane liquor, lemon and sugar. Food and drinks are sold by vendors present all across the beach. There are plenty of hotels on the Copacabana beach for tourists. The hotels organise parties and serve champagne breakfast starting from 3 a.m. Tariffs, however, hit the roof during this time as they do during the Carnival. Besides the high tariff, the hotels only sell packages of a minimum of three nights. Among the hotels, the place of pride goes to the legendary Copacabana Palace Hotel, which hosts Hollywood stars and the jet set.

What about the crime and violence one hears about in Rio city? Not to worry. Even the muggers and criminals take a break and join the celebrations! After all, they are also Cariocas (the nickname given to people of Rio de Janeiro city), for whom partying comes first, ahead of work. If you seek a business or official appointment in December, the Cariocas will say, "let us meet after the carnival".

Look at the calendar and, oops, the carnival is in March!