Just like sport, music has the power to unite people. From Friday, around 600 thousand people – from around Brazil and the world – are expected to attend Rock in Rio, one of the world’s greatest music festivals. Athletes’ Park, one of Rio 2016 Olympic venues, in Barra da Tijuca, will become, for the second time, the City of Rock, which will gather great names of Brazilian and International music, such as Bruce Springsteen, Beyoncé and Iron Maiden, for the seven-day event. In 2016, the athletes will be the great stars on this stage.

As the Marvellous City is preparing to celebrate the Olympic and Paralympic Games, with Rock in Rio it once again strengthens its ability to host large events. After thousands of Football fans landed in Rio in June for the Confederations Cup, in July the city was the stage for a great demonstration of faith, World Youth Day (WYD).

The numbers of this edition of Rock in Rio – which takes place for the fifth time in Rio (1985, 1991, 2001 and 2011) – are impressive. For the festival’s seven days, the event’s organisers have planned 90 hours of music and invited 160 artists. For this purpose, they developed a programme that is expected to cater to all rhythms and tastes. International rock idols such as Iron Maiden and Metallica, great stars of pop like Beyoncé and Justin Timberlake, besides the main Brazilian artists, already renowned in the festival such as Sepultura and Capital Inicial, among many others, will perform at the event. (Check out the programme)

Would you like to find out more about the athletes’ favourite rhythms, get to know the sports people practise the most between festival attractions as well as other trivia? Stay tuned on the rio2016.com website to check out the news that one of the world’s greatest music festivals will bring to the city of the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Events like Rock in Rio are part of the legacy project for the Athletes’ Park

The Athletes Park was delivered in 2011 and offers infraestructure for sports (Photo: Rio 2016)

Built in the heart of the Games, the Athletes’ Park is an Olympic venue specially designed to receive sportspeople from the whole world. It is located in a strategic area, less than a kilometre from two other important Rio 2016 venues: the Athletes’ Village and Barra Olympic Park.

This will be the second time the Athletes’ Park will become the City of Rock. Concluded and delivered to the city at the milestone of five years to the Games (in 2011), the area of more than 150 thousand square metres is the first Games legacy, offering the Carioca population an area dedicated to sport and leisure, besides providing the Marvellous City with another site capable of hosting large events like Rock in Rio. Between festival editions and after the Rio 2016 Games, the area has a vast structure for sports practice, with walking tracks, gyms for the elderly, Football pitches and Volleyball courts, among other features.