More than one and a half million visitors to Madonna’s free mega concert in Rio de Janeiro

Some fans had arrived hours or even days in advance. Others watched from dozens of boats near the beach. The fire brigade sprayed water to cool fans at the stage and free drinking water was distributed. It was about 27 degrees in the Brazilian city in the evening.

In terms of police deployment, there is talk of more than 3,000 officers who had to ensure everything ran smoothly in and around the concert area. Local authorities faced a similar challenge in 1994 and 2006 when Rod Stewart and The Rolling Stones attracted 3.5 million and 1.5 million visitors respectively.

During her performance, the ‘Queen of Pop’ played songs such as Like a Prayer, Vogue and Express Yourself. On Instagram, where she shared a video of the performance on Sunday, Madonna thanked the audience for coming.