Currently in the spotlight thanks to the 2014 Football World Cup, Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, has long been world famous in its own right. Roughly 4km of gently curved sandy beach in the Copacabana district, it stretches from Princesa Isabel Avenue to Posto Seis, or lifeguard watchtower six, and is part of a chain of Rio city beaches that includes the equally famous Ipanema. Historic forts guard both ends of Copacabana beach; Fort Copacabana, built in 1914, is at the south end by Posto Seis, with Fort Duque de Caxias, built in 1779, at the north end.
The entire 4km of Copacabana beach is backed by a promenade where hotels, restaurants, bars, night clubs and residential buildings sit side by side. The promenade was completed in 1970 and features a black and white geometric wave pattern designed by Roberto Burle Marx, which was made using traditional Portuguese pavement tiling techniques. Local architecture and buildings reflect the sometimes harsh reality of life in this district of Rio; the city was once the capital of Brazil, and the older, more luxurious apartments on Copacabana beachfront are relics of a time when this area was considered an exclusive neighbourhood. Economic change and a rapidly increasing population led to the growth of favelas, or shanty towns, in and around Rio - including the Copacabana district – as rural Brazilian families desperate for work migrated to already overcrowded cities.
Poverty-stricken and overcrowded, these slums have become a sad fact of life in Rio de Janeiro and many other Brazilian cities. Popular with locals and holidaymakers, Copacabana beach is rarely quiet. Thousands visit it each year, for sunning, relaxing and people watching, and it has long been a favourite of football and futevôlei (hands-free volleyball) players, tourists, beach vendors and the bronzed masses of sun-worshippers. During the football World Cup the beach has been even busier than usual; for Brazil’s recent match with Croatia, FIFA staged its ‘Fan Fest’ (a free festival where supporters can watch World Cup matches relayed live on big screens) on Copacabana beach; more than 1.5 million fans, local and international, turned up to watch.
Copacabana is an ideal venue for parties on a large scale. For example, in February 2006 The Rolling Stones played a free concert that attracted more than 1.5 million people to the beach. The Copacabana beach New Year’s Eve celebrations are also legendary, with an estimated two million people arriving to watch one of the world’s largest firework displays and enjoy live music shows. The celebration has become one of the biggest tourist attractions of Rio de Janeiro, attracting visitors from all over Brazil and other countries – many revellers dress in white, said to bring peace and good luck.
With 8,000km of coastline and thousands of beaches to choose from, beaches are just part of the lifestyle of many Brazilians; this ingrained beach culture is summed up beautifully by the Brazilian expression ‘é minha praia’ (literally 'that's my beach’), which is best translated into British English as ‘that’s my cup of tea’. Whether or not Copacabana beach is your cup of tea, it is bustling with life and full of character – and certainly never boring.
Sources:
en.wikipedia.org
www.lonelyplanet.com
www.ipanema.com
www.theguardian.com
This blog post was commissioned by Quba Sails.
