RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Colombian superstar Shakira will give a free concert on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday night in an event that Brazilian officials expect to draw some 2 million people to one of the world’s most iconic waterfronts.
The performance follows similar shows by Madonna in 2024 and Lady Gaga last year — also attended by huge crowds that danced on the sprawling sands. For Shakira, it’s part of her ” Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran,” or “Women No Longer Cry,” world tour, named after her 2024 album.
The Latina pop star said in an interview with Brazil’s TV Globo that she expects the Copacabana concert to be the biggest of her career.
“For me it’s a dream. I always dreamed of singing on this beach, because I think it’s a magical place,” she said in Portuguese, adding that she learned the language before English.
One of the first places where Shakira became successful
When she first performed in Brazil in the 1990s, she established an amazing connection with the Brazilian public, according to Felipe Maia, an ethnomusicologist pursuing a doctoral degree on popular music and digital technologies at Paris Nanterre University.
That success in Brazil “has a lot to do with the fact that she comes from Colombia, a country whose culture has many similarities with Brazil,” Maia said, adding that Saturday’s performance “crowns the relationship she has had with Brazil for a very long time.”
Erica Monteiro, a 38-year-old accountant, said she has listened to Shakira since childhood.
“For me she represents the strength of our Latino community,” Monteiro said ahead of the concert. “We’re treated as if we were inferior but in fact we have much more strength.”
By Saturday morning, crowds had started piling onto the beach to nab a good spot for the show. Street vendors sold sweetcorn and other Brazilian snacks, bottled water and caipirinhas, the popular Brazilian cocktail — but also toilet paper, deodorant and even bags of sand for concert goers to stand on to get a better view of the stage set up opposite Copacabana Palace, a historic luxury hotel.
Street vendor Simone Paula da Cunha arrived on the beach on Friday evening, hoping to sell all the beer and water bottles she had bought ahead of the show — and make about $100 in all.
Despite her evident fatigue, da Cunha was excited at the prospect of seeing Shakira live. “I remember her from when she still had black hair,” she said. “I’m a huge fan of hers.”
DJs were slated to start performing on the beach in the late afternoon. Shakira’s set is scheduled for 9:45 p.m. local time and is expected to last around two hours. After the performance, another DJ will take to the stage — a new addition to keep the crowds entertained and help with an orderly exit, according to city officials.
An effort to boost the city’s post-Carnival economy
The free concerts are part of City Hall’s attempt to boost economic activity after Carnival and New Years’ Eve festivities and before the monthlong Saint John’s Day celebrations in June.
“For us, parties are serious business. Because parties generate jobs, income, development, and identity for the city,” Rio Mayor Eduardo Cavaliere said on Wednesday as he presented the city’s operational plan for the event. “Our investment in this show will give us a financial return 40 times greater,” he said.
Shakira’s performance could generate around 777 million reais (around $155 million), according to a study by City Hall and Riotur, the municipality’s tourism company, thanks to the influx of tourists and cash spent in restaurants, hotels and shops.
More tourists headed to Rio in the month of May in the years with shows — 2024 and 2025 — compared to 2023, according to City Hall data. In 2024, the growth was 34.2% on May 1, just ahead of the concerts, compared to the previous year. In 2025, the increase was 90.5% compared to 2023.
Ahead of Shakira’s performance, Airbnb said in an April 22 statement that it was seeing an increase in guests expected to travel from different parts of Brazil, Latin America and even European capitals such as Paris and London.
Wanderson Andrade, a 30-year old architect, said he flew in especially for the show from the city of Goiana in central Brazil on Saturday and will fly back the following day.
“I tried to get tickets to see her in Brazil last year but I didn’t succeed,” said Andrade, who’s first-ever tattoo is a wolf in honor of Shakira. “Today is a dream come true.”
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Eléonore Hughes, The Associated Press
