First day of Rock in Rio Generates 34 Tons of Garbage

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – A balance made by the Municipal Urban Cleaning Company (COMLURB), a state-owned company linked to the city of Rio de Janeiro, shows that 34 tons of garbage were collected on the first day of the Rock in Rio festival.

Of this total, 31 tons were removed from the interior of the City of Rock and the rest in the external area of the event site.

The recyclable waste, which adds up to almost 13 of the 34 tons of garbage, is being sent to the cooperatives of waste pickers accredited with COMLURB in the sorting centers in the neighborhoods of Irajá and Bangu.

It is the second edition that the municipal state-owned company is hired for the production of Rock in Rio to perform the cleaning service. A total of 1,143 sweepers were made available.

The Subsecretariat of Surveillance, Sanitary Inspection and Control of Zoonoses of the city (SUBVISA) also released a report of its work on the first day of the event.

Sixty-five inspections were carried out and four establishments were fined. One of the fines was for food of no identified origin, which resulted in the disposal of 10 kilos of bread.

Two other irregularities related to the lack of a water point and the absence of a washbasin for the workers. The fourth fine was imposed in a restaurant that had employees who did not pass the free course of hygiene training for food handling, as required by municipal legislation. SUBVISA reported that the number of infractions was lower than the first day of the last Rock in Rio but did not give details of how many establishments were fined at the time.

Shows

The shows of the first day of the event began with the singer Lellê, former vocalist of the Dream Team of Passinho, who performed at the Stage Sunset joined with the Portuguese Blaya. Both paid homage to Marielle Franco, a city councilwoman from Rio de Janeiro, who was murdered in March 2018.

The first day of Rock in Rio was also a moment of emotion for Brazilian rapper Mano Brown, who brought to the stage an idol: Bootsy Collins, former partner of James Brown and one of the main names in funk and American soul. The artist who closed the performances was Drake. He also played a polemic when he vetoed the transmission of his show through Multishow channel, partner of the event.

Rock in Rio continues until today, September 29th, and takes a break, with the schedule being resumed again between October 3rd and 6th. The event takes place in the City of Rock, which was set up in the Olympic Park, in the Barra da Tijuca neighborhood, in the western zone of Rio de Janeiro. The organizers expect an audience of 100,000 people a day, making a total of 700,000 visitors.