Rio prepares to ring in the New Year with 2 million int’l, local revelers

Rio de Janeiro is preparing to host millions of revelers who will be flocking to its beaches for New Year's Eve.

The famed Copacabana Beach alone, the heart of New Year's celebrations in the Marvelous City, is expected to see more than two million people turn out for the annual fireworks display, which is a mainstay of "Reveillon" celebrations here.

City workers are busy building installations and stages along the iconic beachfront as they prepare for the festivities and musical guests who will perform starting at 6 p.m. (2000 GMT) leading up to the midnight fireworks display.

The city will use eleven barges to light off a massive fireworks show synchronized to music on the shoreline as celebrants, most dressed in white, as is tradition here, marvel and dance on the sandy shores of the beach.

Tourists have already begun showing up to Rio as they anxiously wait to ring in the New Year here.

"It's [Copacabana Beach] nice. When I come, I always like it. For me, it's fantastic. I think it's one of the best in the world," Italian tourist Fabricio Vicente told Reuters.

"I've heard they do a musical concert here with bands on the beach. I think it is going to be very beautiful to see the fireworks and the whole show they put on here," Edwin Castro, a tourist from Peru, said.

"Fireworks are always my favorite, but I hope there's a lot of dancing and a lot of fun and I hope everyone enjoys the beach," said US tourist Bee Bourney.

"What we've heard is there's like two million people and so we just can't imagine that many people on the beach to see all the excitement. And we also heard that the fireworks are tremendous. So, we're excited about seeing millions of people all having a great time listening to music and seeing the fireworks. They say it's just unbelievable," another US tourist, identified only as Michael, said.

The New Year's Eve celebrations are one of the city's largest tourist attractions and are an iconic symbol of the city.

Every year millions of tourists and locals party it up around the city dressed in white to bring good luck for the coming year.

The city expects this year's celebration to inject $691 million into the local economy.

The president of the national branch of the Brazilian Hotel Industry Association, Paulo Michel, said hotel bookings are already up this year compared to last.

"Today, Copacabana is at 86 percent occupancy levels which is an increase from last year when you consider that last year we booked 39,000 rooms in Rio de Janeiro altogether. And this year are currently expecting to book 49,000 rooms," Michel said.

The city will also be ramping up security ahead of the event with thousands of additional police patrolling strategic points in the city. — Reuters