New Year’s Eve is Brazil’s most popular holiday after Carnival. The biggest celebration in Rio de Janeiro, known as a party town, happens in Copacabana Beach, where there are 20 minutes of fireworks. Ratcheting the celebration up a notch this year is the unveiling of the logo for the 2016 Olympic Games, which Brazil is hosting, the Associated Press reports. A visual of the logo will be projected onto the sand at the beach.
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Andre Penner/AP
Members of Sao Paulo's Commerce Association release balloons with the colors of the Brazilian flag to celebrate the end of the year in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Thursday, Dec. 30, 2010.