Rio set for its longest New Year's Eve fireworks show following Guinness World Record win

Rio de Janeiro is set to welcome in the new year with its largest firework show on Wednesday (December 31) as  the city celebrates being awarded the Guinness World Record for having the largest year-end celebration in 2024.

Rio's city hall said in statement that 19 barges deployed along the coast - almost double the number used last year - will fire pyrotechnics for 12 minutes.

On Tuesday (December 30), Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes received the Guinness World Record for the "Biggest New Year's Eve Celebration in the World" after the December 31, 2024, edition attracted some 2.5 million attendees.

Rio authorities expect that attendance figure to be surpassed as 2025 draws to a close.

The "Reveillon," as the celebration is known, will also feature visuals, a drone deployment and 13 stages across the region, three of them in Copacabana, where the Brazilian musician Gilberto Gil, among others, will perform, the local government informed.

-Janaina Quinet and Anna Portella