RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) -- Millions of people dressed entirely in white will greet the new millennium on Rio's famous Copacabana beach in what should be one of the most moving and spiritual celebrations in the world.
Every New Year about 3 million people -- equal to the population of Uruguay -- stream onto the beaches of Brazil's renowned resort city to send flowers and floating candles into the Atlantic as offerings to Iemanja, the Afro-Brazilian goddess of the sea and fertility.If the waves carry the offerings away, it means Iemanja has accepted them and prayers for the new century will be answered. But if they wash back to shore legend says the petitioners will not be as fortunate.
For many Brazilians, the Iemanja rituals are deeply meaningful. But just as important for the party-loving Cariocas -- as Rio residents are known -- are the free pop concerts that go on all day and night in the sand.
Then, at the stroke of midnight, Rio sets off spectacular fireworks the whole 2.7-mile-long Copacabana in what the city claims is the world's biggest beach bash.
For the year 2000, the city, like other top New Year's Eve spots across the world, plans to mount its most dazzling show in history with twice the number of fireworks, three times the amount of champagne and countless other galas and gatherings.
"We will have one of the most special celebrations in the world," Rio's Secretary of Tourism Gerard Bourgeaiseau told Reuters. "It's such a rare atmosphere where you have so many people holding flowers, dressed in white and asking for good things for the new year."
Bourgeaiseau expects a particularly wild party spirit this year with the once-in-a-lifetime transition to a new millennium giving extra fervor to traditions such as setting off firecrackers and showering Rio's streets with confetti.
In addition to millennium fever, Brazil will inaugurate yearlong festivities marking 500 years since the Portuguese discovered Latin America's biggest country. President Fernando Henrique Cardoso and his family will join most of Brazil's elite in Rio as the former capital is still the cultural heart of the land and its party should be among the flashiest.
With a budget close to $5 million, the city has pulled out the stops with extra dusk-to-dawn shows and giant television screens along the beach for the official countdown to beam out images of other millennium festivals from around the globe.
But the most magical image should still be the homage to Iemanja. Throngs of people clad in white will camp out and build candle-lighted shrines on the sand in the week running up to New Year's Eve. As the hour nears, chanting and drumbeating groups of pilgrims will be joined on the beach by a crowd that could reach 4 million this year, city officials say.
The glow of the candles on shore and in the waves will be enhanced by the sparkling lights of a fleet of yachts and cruise ships bobbing off Copacabana and glittering displays mounted on the beachfront hotels and apartment buildings.
"Nothing in the world compares to the electric feeling you get from being part of the masses of people on Copacabana." said Rio resident Luciana Kamel, 24, a psychology student. "With people seeing this as the new millennium, I think this year's celebration will be even more magical."
The offerings to Iemanja usually dot the beaches with sandy platforms set like lavish dinner tables complete with crystal glasses, candles and flower arrangements. They are surrounded by baskets of soap, perfume and other cosmetics meant as gifts for the goddess, associated with the Virgin Mary in this largely Roman Catholic country.
Local historians say Brazil's blend of African spirituality and Christianity started in slave times, when the Portuguese forced slaves to take part in Catholic rituals. The slaves used what they knew--African languages and customs--to adapt to the Catholic rites and the symbols of the two systems of belief became interchangeable for great parts of society.
For Brazilians of all creeds, their New Year's tradition gives them rare hope and sense of community for the struggling nation of 165 million where the divide between rich and poor is one of the cruelest in the world. Many, even the most destitute, manage to buy a new set of clothes and shoes in white, symbolizing purity and a fresh start.
However attractive Rio's balmy weather and unique ceremony, many foreigners stay away because of the city's reputation for violence, compounded this year by fears that the Y2K computer glitch could shut down transport and other public services.
Bookings at Rio's grand hotels, most of which have splashed out for the year 2000 to host glamorous galas, have failed to match expectations of a millennium sellout. Many landlords hoping to cash in on the celebration have been disappointed by the lukewarm response to offers of Copacabana's beachfront apartments for up to an exorbitant $30,000 a week.
Rio's tourism secretary, with long experience of the ups and downs of the city's famous festivals, brushes aside concerns about low turnout. "On Dec. 31 I'm sure everything will be full," Bourgeaiseau said.
"The city might have been a bit fuller if prices had not been set so high, but that's a problem everywhere in the world. We don't have to invent the party, the Carioca people will ensure the success of our celebration."