Of all the offering days of the month, in rio de janeiro the day for yemanjá on december 31st is the most popular - as the date merges with new year's eve and offering rituals happen along the shores of copacabana beach, home of rio's main new year's eve celebrations.

while everyone's attention is focused on the upcoming new year's eve celebration, believers congregate on flamengo, leme, copacabana, ipanema, and leblonbeach to worship iemanjá, the goddess of the sea.

yemanjá is offered flowers, gifts, perfume, rice, and even champagne - the offerings are set into little rafts and cast adrift into the sea, or thrown directly into the waves.