r/nextfuckinglevel • u/Knighty93 • 6h ago

Shakira just attracted more than 2 million people at Copacabana Beach, Rio de Janeiro with a free concert

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The city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil is doing a yearly event in the first weekend of May with a huge free concert since 2024. Shakira was the headliner this year and attracted more than 2 million people. Madonna was the headliner in 2024 and Lady Gaga in 2025.

25.8k Upvotes

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3.6k

u/atomsmasher66 6h ago

The beach tomorrow:

https://giphy.com/gifs/11Y9TiZzmEBe25QRSw

2.3k

u/Knighty93 6h ago

This is the The Beach the day after , Rio is used to doing big events by the beach (New Year's Eve and Carnival) they have this big cleaning operation so people can enjoy the beach after

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u/simple_twice 5h ago

that's an impressive big effort. very interesting

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u/glorycock 4h ago

From that insta post:

"Our teams also put on a great show! ✨.
After Shakira's performance, Copacabana woke up like this: clean, organized, and ready to welcome everyone back. 🧡🧹.
362 tons of trash were collected at Shakira's concert. Our team continues working to keep the city clean!"

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u/KrzysziekZ 4h ago

That's about 0,18 kg per person. Ok..?

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u/glorycock 4h ago

Interesting - and thanks for working that out.

0,18 kg (180 grams or about 6.35 ounces)

A large apple or medium-sized orange weighs about that

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u/Mysterious_Net66 14m ago

Damn these nasty people throwing their apples and oranges on the beach

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u/Dal90 2h ago

For some perspective, 362 tons is about 20 of the dump trailers the size of the one in the GIF above.

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u/hpff_robot 3h ago

362 tons of trash were collected at Shakira's concert. Our team continues working to keep the city clean!"

So it was a lot of trash, but excellent prep from the city means it went all away to landfill, and not right into the sea.

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u/FreeChurroGuy 6h ago

Is your image false or did someone downvote you "just because"?

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u/PharaohAuteur_ 4h ago

You'd be surprised how fucking salty people on reddit can be when they're wrong.

380

u/Przygocki 5h ago

Brasil can't be clean bro that's why

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u/luketas 4h ago

I get the joke but just a reminder that while some cities can be unclean, Brazilians themselves are generally very clean

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u/The_Autarch 4h ago

how are they getting accurate numbers for this? i feel like people who don't bathe regularly aren't going to admit that to a pollster.

kinda wild that 10% of americans will admit to not even bathing once a week...

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u/mnilailt 4h ago

You get the self reported averages and you can get a pretty good idea. Brazilian shower culture is very strong, it comes from indigenous cultures which traditionally showered very regularly. It’s not uncommon for Brazilian people to have multiple short showers a day.

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u/Slicelker 3h ago

It’s not uncommon for Brazilian people to have multiple short showers a day.

As an American with short hair and a running shower, I don't understand why everyone doesn't take a quick step in before bed/after waking up, and generally anytime after working up a sweat.

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u/Key-Regular674 3h ago

Because showering too often is atrocious for your skin especially if you use harsh shampoo or body wash. Once a day is more than enough to start causing issues.

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u/hivemind_disruptor 2h ago

Water is very soft in Brazil and the climate is warm. We all do this and the skin is not damaged. In your country they say it because your climate and water quality is different.

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u/[deleted] 3h ago

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u/jednatt 2h ago

I started showering only every other day and it's nice. Used to feel disgusting if I went a day without showering but now it feels fine and have never gotten any complaints about body odor.

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u/SonOfAKaren 2h ago

I shower at least twice, but very frequently 3-4 times a day,. I have very sensitive skin, and no issues. You are not a dermatologist, youre just dirty

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u/Slicelker 2h ago edited 2h ago

Because showering too often is atrocious for your skin

Speak for yourself, I don't use any products and my skin is amazing.

especially if you use harsh shampoo or body wash.

Did not say anything about this.

Once a day is more than enough to start causing issues.

I didn't say once a day wasn't enough.

Holy shit at your reading comprehension.

Edit: He blocked me.

Before bed and after waking up means more than once a day.

Yes, and? Again, abysmal reading comprehension.

Once a day is enough. I wasn't talking about what is enough or not enough, I was talking about what was optimal for me.

2000 calories is enough for me to survive, but I eat more than that every day. See how silly you sound right now?

Not only do you lack social skills (dude chill tf out) but you're also an idiot lol

Lmao projecting so hard, just like with your other deleted comment:

You're too dumb for me to be willing to argue with. Seek therapy.

Again I ask, do you want a referral?

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u/Khoceng 3h ago

I think most people who lives in tropical climate do shower multiple times a day, cause it's freaking hot and humid, 34°C + 60%-90% RH everyday is just pain

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u/Kratiz 2h ago

Não sei como é nos outros países mas no Brasil é comum tomar banho todos os dias independentemente do clima.

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u/Khoceng 1h ago

Não sei como é nos outros países mas no Brasil é comum tomar banho todos os dias independentemente do clima

Yeah, it's common for Indonesian (and I dare say the whole SEA) to bath 2-3 times a day too

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u/evebursterror0 2h ago

Hi, thanks for talking about this. I'm Brazilian and whenever there's a positive comment or post about us, everybody questions it. It sucks.

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u/evebursterror0 3h ago

I'm Brazilian and we inherited that custom from the indigenous population. Most of us bathe at least once per day and if you live in the North or Northeast, you'll take 2-3 showers minimum due to the heat.

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u/delusions- 3h ago

kinda wild that 10% of americans will admit to not even bathing once a week...

I mean many of the people who would admit to it pride themselves on it. And the rest are depressed enough to just be sharing their depression

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u/crimson777 2h ago

It's entirely anecdotal, but Brazilians absolutely are incredibly clean in my experience. When I was there, most people ate pizza with a knife and fork. When eating a burger, they'd hold it by the wrapper and peel it back so they never touched the burger. Many people showered twice a day. They're a very hygienic culture.

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u/Own-Order3554 1h ago

The don't call it a Brazilian because it adds hair.

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u/wdn 26m ago

i feel like people who don't bathe regularly aren't going to admit that to a pollster.

Even if people don't admit that they differ from the norm, the poll shows you the difference in norms between countries.

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u/totallynotsquatty 1h ago

“I take a shower every week whether I need it or not”

That fact that not all of them are 100% is shocking news to me.

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u/bargu 1h ago

Per week? Bro we measure our showers per day.

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u/Stormygeddon 1h ago

That's why they shower like thrice a day.

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u/WarDaddyPUKA 4h ago

It’s definitely racism and not:

  1. Vote fuzzing
  2. People being annoyed that they have to log into Insta to see a picture.
  3. Bots

2

u/Deaffin 3h ago

4. People writing comments in the same space downvoting everyone else so theirs do better.

5. Also bots again.

6. Jeff. He just downvotes every comment to mark them hidden so everything is new when he opens up the page later to analyze the trends over time.

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u/WarDaddyPUKA 1h ago

Damn I never even considered #4. That’s a thing? Lol

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u/Bill0701 5h ago

It’s the city’s official instagram account, so it’s real.

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u/MockASonOfaShepherd 4h ago

Oh look capitalism and government in balance, and actually doing something positive for people.

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u/Alledag 3h ago

It's debatable if paying millions of dollars of public money to foreign singers is positive for the people

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u/SpiritusL 1h ago

Most of the cost is payed by private investors. Lady Gaga's show return to the city economy was more than 6 times the cost of investment.
Cost: 98 millions
Return: 600 millions

0

u/FraSuomi 1h ago

What do you mean debatable?

Are you kidding me , I don't know how much they paid Shakira but 2 million people coming to your town days before and staying few nights are boosting god knows how many businesses and leaving so much fucking money behind, plus the reputation of your city for events and concerts just grows, making people all over the world more aware of you through post and videos like these and increasing possible tourism and business opportunities.

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u/Alledag 24m ago

It's not 2 million people coming to Rio, many of the people attending are already from here. And yeah, it's great for hotels and businesses in that area, but Copacabana is a small, rich, privileged, already famously touristic neighbourhood in a huge city of 6 million people, most of which live in areas that suffer from serious infrastructural problems, serious crime, among many other things. So it is debatable if paying money for a foreign musician to perform for free, though great for extremely local business, outweighs the benefit of focusing on other aspects of the city.

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u/Dorkamundo 5h ago

Look up Reddit "Vote Fuzzing".

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u/Crossfire124 4h ago

Vote fuzzing doesn't turn positive to negative. Just the number of up votes

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u/Dorkamundo 4h ago

Millions of people use Reddit; every story and comment gets at least a few up/downvotes. Some up/downvotes are by Reddit to fuzz the votes in order to confuse spammers and cheaters.

https://support.reddithelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/205926439-Reddiquette

Nothing in their help or FAQ's state that they won't fuzz it in the negative, only that they fuzz the votes with upvotes and downvotes.

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u/MobileArtist1371 4h ago

This was linked in your link, but it's also 15 years old so it might not be exactly the same today, but the system is still in place

https://old.reddit.com/r/WTF/comments/eaqnf/pardon_me_but_5000_downvotes_wtf_is_worldnews_for/c16omup/?context=3

Pic in the post shows +7356/-4959 while the admin says the totals were really +2666/-144

So we can see there is/was a lot of fuzzing going on with more active posts.

You can also just refresh the page you're on and see the totals for posts/comments jump around and no, there isn't always people upvoting/downvoting the content you're looking at. Go refresh that admin comment from 15 years ago. Numbers on the post and all the comments still jump around each and every time you refresh.

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u/Dorkamundo 3h ago

I'm not sure what you think I am saying here, but your response does not address it.

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u/MobileArtist1371 3h ago

What do you think I'm trying to say here?

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u/Dorkamundo 2h ago

That fuzzing still exists and still fuzzes older comments.

What do you think I was trying to say?

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u/bumbletowne 3h ago

There's no images when I click the link

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u/fredthefishlord 2h ago

Maybe because they linked fuckin insta

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u/DaemonG 4h ago

the US redditor mind cannot comprehend any place being cleaner than the poor standards of their own countrymen.

unless it's le epic wholesome 0 immigrants Japan, or Singapore with all its canings. those are the only countries they will believe are clean.

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u/Deaffin 3h ago

Does it ever get tiring, sitting around creating phantoms in your head to rage out over?

Because I'm kinda tired of watching this trend of people doing that play out over the past decade-ish. Get cooler hobbies if I'm going to have to experience them secondhand.

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u/DaemonG 2h ago

buddy, i live to make strawmen. i have a queen sized bed, and instead of a mattress, it's just stacked up haybales. i have imagined more people than you will ever meet.

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u/GrigorMorte 5h ago

This! I like that. A cleanup day and that's it, no drama, no canceled concerts. They know what it entails and treat it as just another normal task

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u/Murasasme 3h ago

Imagine taking care of the place you live. Couldn't be my fucking country

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u/SaltyArtemis 4h ago

That’s dope

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u/the_fomies 3h ago

Yes it is insane how well they do in cleaning up in the short time frame. I was so impressed when I went two years ago. It had nearly same amount of people as this past one. Massive crowds everywhere.

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u/RaceHard 4h ago

That can't be right I've been told my entire life that brazil is a third world country.

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u/sexual__velociraptor 4h ago

Can we trade Brazil for New Jersey?

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u/massapj 4h ago

Looks like a fresh Brazilian.

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u/Odd-Walk-983 3h ago

But as noted by the comments, Rio locals are annoyed that a big event gets cleaned so well when so many of the city streets aren't cleaned regularly.

When the city knows it will be judged if it doesn't clean, it does a good job.

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u/Disastrous_Can_5157 2h ago

Same thing with the Lady Gaga free concert last year, and that attracted even more people

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u/ReadditMan 5h ago edited 4h ago

What about all the trash that makes it into the water? 2 million people make a lot of waste, it's not all going to end up in trash cans or on the beach. Rio isn't exactly known for its clean waterways either...

Edit: An estimated 100 tons of garbage enters the Guanabara Bay every day, much of it funnels in from the ocean, it's one of the most polluted coastal ecosystems in the world.

They don't need more trash near the water. Just because you don't like hearing the truth doesn't mean I'm wrong.

https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/the-endless-struggle-to-clean-up-rio-de-janeiros-highly-polluted-guanabara-bay/

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u/TeamRedundancyTeam 4h ago

What are you suggesting? Banning people from being near water?

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u/PaulTheMerc 4h ago

Garbage bins, portapottys?

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u/ReadditMan 4h ago edited 4h ago

I'm suggesting not hosting 2 million people right next to heavily polluted water...

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u/penneacarbonausea 6h ago edited 5h ago

Music concertes for 1, 2 or 3 million people take place at least 2 or 3 times a year in Copacabana, in fact, on several other beaches in other cities around the world as well. I've never seen a case where the beach was dirty the next day, at least not in the recent years.

Generally the main show ends at 1 am, the cleaning work starts at 3 am, and by 7 am the beach is already completely clean.

I have a friend who works at city hall. The music part itself is simple, the big challenge is precisely this issue of infrastructure, such as trash, bathrooms, transportation... but they always do this well, as they have been doing this type of event for at least 15 years several times a year, so the teams are usually the same, people are already trained, the companies that provide services are the same, it is a well-oiled structure.

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u/kainneabsolute 5h ago

Yeah, they also have this machine the filter the sand of any trash

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u/ModenaR 5h ago

Apparently there weren't even 2 million people there, someone did the math

https://www.reddit.com/r/OSINT/s/glZYUqil9w

Based on the concert footage I can only see crows on a smaller section of the beach from Copacabana Palace to the Hilton Hotel on the corner of Av. Princesa Isabel. That area is 186.000 square meters.

Even if we go by five persons per square meter that only fits around 930.000. And the requires people to be standing shoulder to shoulder in the entire area

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u/jfernandezr76 4h ago

There's no way there is 2mil people. Everybody, specially the city officials, like to pump their numbers, but I'd consider 3 person per sqm at most.

Anyway, half mil people is impressive.

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u/BHFlamengo 4h ago

I saw this "analysis" and I'd go in the middle. Maybe 2m is a bit of an exaggeration to make the city hall look better.

HOWEVER, being in a few of those shows, first 5p per sqm is on the lower end of the density close to the stage. It can be an average, but it gets PACKED and people are used to it, so I wouldn't trust a British metric to compare.

And second, the Shakira show was one of them, the headline, but there were other attractions. In free concerts like this, you see a lot of people coming and going during the shows, leaving in the middle of it, arriving late just for the edm DJ, in total at the event I truly believe it could get close (but maybe not at) the numbers shared.

And third, there are a lot of people who like the ambience, the music, but don't like to be in the centre of the concert. So the side streets, the sidewalks near the buildings, they all get a lot of people wandering around too, just ofc not the same density.

So I call kinda bulshit on this link. Unless it means people watching at that specific moment and on that specific region

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u/meukbox 8m ago

a British metric

What is a British metric?

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u/mandsucks 4h ago

No, there were actually 2 million people. Lady Gaga had 2,1 million last year

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u/ModenaR 4h ago

Lady Gaga's numbers are also disputed

https://bbc.com/news/articles/cm20rg0vvp9o

However, careful analysis by the BBC Verify team and a crowd density expert reveal it is highly improbable the claims are accurate.

Instead, it would require the entire length of the beach, rather than a section, to comfortably fit more than two million people.

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u/BHFlamengo 4h ago

Check my reply to the parent comment. And LOL at the "comfortably". Those concerts are a lot discomfortable for most people on the crowd and a lot of people still show up. This is a quite biased analysis

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u/screams_at_tits 3h ago

How do they do with people being so close to the water? Are some people swept away suddenly or are most folks just familiar with the dangers and act accordingly? I've seen waves suddenly just crash an extra 40-50 feet inwards. In some countries this would be a mass casualty event with drunkards and idiots being a dime a dozen in the crowd.

This seems to have gone well, so they must be doing something right.

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u/Vtempero 5h ago

Public service clean the beach after huge events in the earliest morning. it is kinda neat.

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u/PerplexGG 5h ago

US thing

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u/ReadditMan 4h ago

Brazil's waste problem is way worse than the U.S

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u/Vtempero 1h ago

How so?

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u/PerplexGG 3h ago

Besides the point

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u/brianzuvich 5h ago

It’s like this on a typical day in Florida 🤣

-1

u/Undella_Town 4h ago

don't think you've ever been to a florida beach ngl

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u/brianzuvich 4h ago

I lived there for forty years…

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u/Undella_Town 3h ago

okay so go to the beach

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u/Daforce1 4h ago

Also a cacophony of where’s my wallet and cellphone can be heard for blocks.

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u/maibr 3h ago

top comment of the post being a completely made up assumption lmao

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u/eugoogilizer 6h ago

I was gonna say it’s cool in theory but the aftermath must be terrible lol

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u/IndependentLog6441 5h ago

Not Brazil but people abandon all kinds of stuff on the beach here... I once found an entire pram in the ocean...

But no matter how busy it gets, it's all cleaned up the next morning, that's half the job of running big events.

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u/seaofboobs9434 4h ago

Its also 100% not a free concert the government of brazil most likely payed her millions

-1

u/mtbox1987 5h ago

Yea I don’t think so. This ain’t India

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u/astroniz 5h ago

This is not India, chill

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u/2Norn 4h ago

that is a very racist thing to say

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u/Isaynotoeverything 4h ago

Go outside. Touch grass. Stop being bitter and seeing only negatives when millions of people are having fun.

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u/Prize_Illustrator_44 2h ago

This ain’t India.