Rio de Janeiro Events & Activities

Rio de Janeiro is one of the most popular destinations in the entire world because of the rich cultural experience it has to offer. In addition, only here tourists can find the most beautiful beaches in the world, the most exciting nightlife and of course, the Carnival. However, there is more to Rio than that - take for example the Botanical Garden where you can find more than 5000 plant varieties (including Amazonian originals and Jurassic-sized water lilies). The statue of Christ the Redeemer is another interesting spot for tourists. The left arm points to Rio's north zone (zona norte) while the right points to the south zone (zona sur).

The Maracaná Stadium with its 200,000 capacity is probably one of the most popular football stadiums in the entire world. Only at the stadium's museum, people can admire Pele's number 10 jersey. All that remains of an Atlantic rain forest that once thrived around Rio de Janeiro is the Tijuca Forest, the largest urban forest in the entire world. The cultural side of Rio is very rich in museums, we will name only a few of them: Carmen Miranda, Caso do Pontal, Chácara do Céu, Histórico Nacional, Villa-Lobos, Arte Moderna and others as well.

Rio de Janeiro Activities

Annual events attract more and more tourist every year, take for example the Panorama Festival, the National Samba Day, the Parada Iluminada, the Feira do Rio Antigo and many more like the Good Food in Rio Festival which gives participants the chance to enjoy Brazil's varied regional cuisine. The restaurants open their kitchens to chefs gathered from all corners of the world. Another major annual event is the New Year's Eve party or Revellion where three stages are set up over a 4km stretch: a Brazilian popular music stage that plays samba, choros and pagodes, a rock stage and a stage that plays old music like old carnival songs and boleros.

Of course, the main attraction is the Carnival which is the biggest annual show organized in the entire world with more than 300,000 foreign participants annually. There are many variety of balls organized at the Carnival, catering to all budgets (and sexual orientations as well).

2014 World Cup Final

Rio de Janeiro Worldcup 2014

The 2014 FIFA World Cup will be the 20th edition of the World Cup and will take place in Brazil during June-July 2014. For this major event, Rio de Janeiro is expected to be the host of the big Final. The confirmation of one of the 12 cities that will host the matches was announced at the Bahamas meeting on 30-31 May 2009. Here FIFA Executive Committee, chaired by FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter, confirmed the 12 host cities for the 2014 World Cup Brazil. This is the second time Brazil will be the host of the World Cup, the first one was in 1950.

The slogan will be “Carioca Heritage, a Brazilian Monument” and the stadium will suffer huge improvements as well as remodeling in order to become a final-worthy stadium and one of the most modern sport arenas in the entire world. For this, a major R$430 million reias will be invested until the date of the Final. The construction will start in early 2010 and the new Maracanã Complex will feature the following amenities:

Metro Station;
Hotel Tower;
Olympic Track;
Aquatic Centre;
Commercial Centre;
Supervia Station;
Parking Area;

The other cities that will be the host of the 2014 Brazil World Cup are Belo Horizonte, Brasília, Cuiabá, Curitiba, Fortaleza, Manaus, Natal, Porto Alegre, Recife, Salvador and São Paulo .

2016 Olympic Games

Rio de Janeiro Olympics 2016

The final voting to choose the host of the 2016 Olympic Games was held on October 2, 2009. Rio de Janeiro and Chicago were seen as the major favorites to obtain the organization of the games. Chicago and Tokyo were eliminated after the first two rounds and Rio de Janeiro gained enough terrain to beat Madrid. The lead was held and Rio de Janeiro was officially announced as the very first city in South America to host the Olympic Games.

All the venues will be located in four areas, as follows: Copacabana Beach, Maracanã, Deodoro and Barra da Tijuca; the latter will also house the Olympic Village. The football matches will also be held in Salvador on Fonte Nova Stadium; São Paolo at the Morumbi Stadium; Belo Horizonte at the Mineirão Stadium and in Brasilia at National Brasilia Stadium.

The Olympics will feature 28 sports and 38 disciplines including the recently introduced golf and rugby sevens but without baseball, squash and roller sports as they were excluded from the competition.