Rio de Janeiro’s bid to host the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games invites athletes and sports fans from all around the world to share the Brazilian people’s passion for sport. The campaign slogan, “Live your passion,” will be launched at the 2009 New Year celebrations on Copacabana Beach in a dramatic manner: it will be projected onto a Rio 2016-themed Ferris wheel positioned at Copacabana Fort.

The slogan reflects the Brazilian people’s way of getting passionately involved in whatever they do. It also expresses the open and democratic manner with which the country welcomes different cultures, races, customs and religions. “The Rio 2016 bid is an open invitation for everyone to live their passion for sport in this marvelous city, whether as an athlete, official, journalist or spectator,” explained Leonardo Gryner, Rio 2016’s Marketing and Communications Director.

The slogan will be projected onto the Rio 2016 Wheel immediately after the ten-second countdown to the beginning of 2009. The Ferris wheel will open to the public on 2 January, precisely nine months before 2 October, when the International Olympic Committee will announce the Host City of the 2016 Olympics.

The Rio 2016 Wheel has 24 gondolas seating a total of 144 people in groups of six. One of the gondolas is accessible to people with disabilities. Each ride will average three minutes. As visitors get off, they will see a container identical to the one that will transport the official Rio 2016 documents to the International Olympic Committee, on which they may sign their names and leave messages. At the Rio 2016 Plaza, there will be a range of entertainment options and an exhibition on the bid. Every day from 11pm, images promoting Rio 2016 will be projected onto the wheel, and will be visible along the entire length of Copacabana beach.