Venue
Parque Olímpico, Barra da Tijuca, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
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Rock in Rio guide
The original Rock in Rio, at the Olympic Park.
In short
Rock in Rio suits music fans happy to choose by day, since each date has its own headliners and its own ticket. The next Brazil edition is confirmed for September 2028 at the Cidade do Rock in Barra da Tijuca, though exact days were not announced as of October 2026. Book rooms early once the line-up appears.
Rock in Rio is the festival that started it all for the brand: the original, held in Rio de Janeiro since 1985 and now staged every two years in September at the Cidade do Rock, the City of Rock built on the Parque Olímpico in Barra da Tijuca, in the city's West Zone. Over two long weekends the former Olympic Park becomes a festival town of stages, food streets and fairground rides.
Despite the name, the bill has never been only rock. Recent editions have mixed rock and metal days with pop, rap, MPB and samba, with international headliners on the Palco Mundo, the World Stage, and collaborations between Brazilian and foreign artists on the Sunset stage.
The 2026 edition drew more than 700,000 people over seven days, nearly half of them from outside Rio and visitors from 89 countries. The organisers have already confirmed that the festival returns in September 2028.
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Key Facts & Stats:
Where: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Venue: Cidade do Rock
Held: Every year
Type of event: Live Events, Musical Events
Currency: Brazilian real (BRL, R$)
Time zone: Brasília Time (UTC-3)
Language: Portuguese
Map
Getting around
Hotels near the venue fill up around the event dates.
Planning the journey to and from Barra
The Cidade do Rock is a long way from the beaches of the South Zone, and the journey shapes every festival day.
- Plan the return first
- know how you are getting back before you leave, as crowds leaving after the headliner are huge.
- Official transport
- use the festival's recommended transport options.
- Phone and cards
- keep phones and wallets in a zipped inside pocket; pickpocketing is a risk in any large Rio crowd.
- ID and ticket
- carry photo ID matching your ticket.
Comfort during long festival days
Gates open in the afternoon and headliners finish late, so pacing matters.
- Comfortable shoes for a large paved site and a lot of walking.
- Sunscreen and a hat for the afternoon sets.
- A light rain jacket, since showers are possible even in September.
- A power bank, as you will use your phone for tickets and finding friends.
Buy tickets only through the official seller; resale offers on social media are a common source of fakes.
What happens on the day
- Afternoon
Gates open
Arrive early to explore the site and the Sunset stage before the crowds build.
- Early evening
Sunset stage
Collaborations between Brazilian and international artists.
- Night
Palco Mundo
The headliners play the World Stage into the early hours.
- After the last set
The journey back
Expect long queues for transport; build this into your plan.
Buying day tickets once line-ups are announced
Rock in Rio sells tickets for individual days, each with its own headline acts, so the line-up announcements decide which days sell out first. Rock and metal days and the biggest pop names tend to go fastest. In 2026 tickets were sold through Ticketmaster; check the official site for the 2028 seller once sales are announced.
Most visitors base themselves in Barra da Tijuca for an easy journey to the park, or in Copacabana and Ipanema for the rest of the city at the cost of a longer trip. Our Rio de Janeiro page covers the city, and the Brazil travel page the wider country.
The first Rock in Rio in 1985 and its history
Roberto Medina's first Rock in Rio in 1985 was a statement: ten days, a purpose-built arena and the biggest international names of the moment playing in a Brazil just emerging from military rule. Queen's shows became national events. In 1991 the festival moved into the Maracanã, and in 2001 it returned to a City of Rock with Sting, R.E.M., Guns N' Roses and the Red Hot Chili Peppers on the bill.
From 2004 the brand went abroad, and for some years the festival was held more often outside Brazil than at home. It came back to Rio in 2011 and settled into a biennial rhythm, moving to the Olympic Park built for the 2016 Games from 2017 onwards.
The 2026 edition was the eleventh in Rio. The twelfth is set for September 2028.
Getting there
Flying in
Rio de Janeiro has two airports: Galeão (GIG) for most international flights and Santos Dumont (SDU) in the centre for domestic routes.
To Barra da Tijuca
The Olympic Park is in the West Zone, far from the centre and the South Zone beaches; allow plenty of time.
On festival days
Use the official transport options published by the festival for each edition.
Where to stay during the festival
Barra da Tijuca is the practical base, with large hotels and apartments and the shortest trip to the park. Copacabana, Ipanema and Leblon put you near the beaches and the city's best-known sights, at the cost of a longer journey each evening.
Book early: around half the 2026 audience came from outside Rio, and rooms fill once the line-up is out.
Weather and what to pack
September is the end of Rio's winter and drier season. The 1981-2010 normals for the city's Saúde station give an average high of 26.7°C and a low of 19.6°C, with about 54 mm of rain over roughly seven days and around 146 hours of sunshine.
Barra, on the coast to the west, can feel warmer by day. Rain is still possible, as the wet 2026 edition showed.
Worth packing
- Comfortable shoes for a large site
- Sunscreen and a hat
- A light rain jacket
- A power bank
- Photo ID to go with your ticket
- A small zip bag for phone and cards
Car hire in Rio de Janeiro
Airport transfer to Rock in Rio
Met at arrivals and driven door to door to Cidade do Rock.
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Timing & weather
The organisers have confirmed September 2028, but as of October 2026 the exact days had not been announced. Treat any specific dates you see before the official announcement as guesswork.
January 1985, over ten days, with Queen, AC/DC, Rod Stewart, George Benson and Yes among the headliners and about 1.38 million attendances. Queen's two shows were broadcast across Brazil and remain part of the festival's legend.
It can. September is in Rio's drier season, yet the 2026 edition saw above-average rain, and Roberta Medina joked that the rain had been one of the festival's artists that year.
General
Every two years. Recent Rio editions took place in 2017, 2019, 2022, 2024 and 2026, the 2022 one delayed by the pandemic.
The Brazilian businessman Roberto Medina. His daughter Roberta Medina is now one of the festival's leading figures, and Live Nation bought a majority stake in 2018 while Medina kept running operations.
No. The 1985 festival had its own purpose-built City of Rock, 1991 was held at the Maracanã stadium, and the 2011 edition returned beside the original site. The festival has used the Barra Olympic Park since 2017.
The 2024 edition was the first to give a full day to Brazilian artists, with showcases running across several national genres. Whether that returns in 2028 depends on the programme, which had not been published as of October 2026.
The festival has travelled to Madrid (2008, 2010 and 2012) and Las Vegas (2015), and Lisbon has hosted it regularly since 2004. Sister festival The Town is held in São Paulo.
The organisers announced a street race for 2028, held on the day of the test event, with the route running through city streets and finishing inside the Cidade do Rock.
At the 1991 edition in the Maracanã, A-ha played to 198,000 paying fans, long cited as a record for a paid concert audience.
Booking
The 2026 edition had seven show days across two weekends, from 4 to 7 and 11 to 13 September, with 7 September added for Brazil's Independence Day. The 2024 edition ran from 13 to 22 September.