An estimated 1.6 million people watched Madonna’s free, tour-closing concert on Rio de Janiero’s Copacabana beach on Saturday.
Madonna also gave a more than two-hour concert at the last stop of the Celebration tour, celebrating her entire career, in which several Brazilian pop artists, such as Anitta and Pabllo Vittar, as well as several local musicians performed.
There were those who reserved their seats in front of the stage days before the concert, and the more affluent watched Madonna’s performance from ships stationed at sea. Due to the 30-degree heat on the day of the concert, firefighters sprinkled water on the beach and distributed drinking water to the crowd for free.
The crowd during Madonna’s performance at Copacabana – Photo: Mauro Pimentel / AFP
3,000 police officers were dispatched to the scene, and the local authorities handled the crowd with the same strategy used at New Year’s celebrations in Rio. Prevention against dehydration has now been prioritized because last year a young fan died of heat stroke at Taylor Swift’s concert in Brazil.
For the concert Guardian according to his report, the state of Rio de Janeiro and the city government spent 3.1 million pounds, i.e. approximately HUF 1.3 billion, and the rest was provided by sponsors for the concert. Based on local authorities’ estimates, the concert brought more than HUF 20 billion in revenue to Rio.
A crowd similar to Madonna’s, more than a million in Rio, was previously at the performance of Rod Stewart and the Rolling Stones.