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| Some traditions and rules to know about. |
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If you are coming for New Year's Eve you must learn some of the traditions. The first one is that people wear white for the party. You may add accessories in your favorite colors: red is good to attract romance, yellow is for prosperity, green for good health, and so on. Black is not the right color to wear, no matter how fashionable it may be.
A lot of people bring flowers, and you should throw them in the sea before midnight. They are an offering to Yemanja, the deity of the seas. Bring a bottle of champagne to pop and drink at midnight. People celebrate the New Year by sharing chilled Champagne with total strangers. It is considered good luck to shake the Champagne bottle and spray around at midnight. Chilled Champagne adds to the spirit of the festivities. If you are on the beach and you decide to shake the bottle and spray around, nobody will complain - it's considered good luck.
At the New Year’s Eve celebration at Copacabana people participate in an African ritual ceremony to honor deity Lemanja, the Goddess of Sea. Boats of varied sizes are prepared with the ../images of deity Lemanja, which are later put in the sea. Everyone comes with white flowers, which are thrown into the sea as an offering to the Goddess Lemanja . The deity Lemanja is also offered numerous gifts on the New Year’s eve.
People arrange their gifts on the beach sand along with candles. The gifts consist of variety of items ranging from cosmetics, food items to Champagne. People then proceed to the priestess Mae de Santo for blessings. After the blessings people find a new vigor in themselves to start the New Year afresh. You may also be blessed by a Candomble priestess, and enjoy the traditional African dances and costumes.
This is a party where everybody is welcome. Walk along the beach and you will run into socialists, working class people, transvestites, children, seniors, couples, teenagers, it seems that all tribes mingle in peace to welcome the New Year.
Plan your trip ahead, as it is not that easy to find an air ticket in the last minute. Hotels in Rio raise their rates for New Year's, and offer their rooms in pre-payable packages including a predetermined number of mandatory nights. Try to book as early as you can, or you will be stuck with the more expensive options. Enjoy!
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| Guide for event: http://www.ipanema.com/pictours/newyear.htm |
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