Brazilian music festival Rock in Rio rocks its way into Las Vegas

For Roberto Medina, founder of Brazilian music festival commonly known as " Rock in Rio," the past weekend was a time when his dream became true.

Rock in Rio USA made its official U.S. debut on Friday and Saturday in Las Vegas, the gambling capital of the world, with attendance of 82,000 people, said the organizer Sunday. "It has always been our dream to bring Rock in Rio to the U.S. and it is truly amazing to see this dream become a reality," said Medina. "We've felt so welcomed during the process of creating the Las Vegas edition of the festival and are grateful to have celebrated the debut with such a great crowd. We look forward to doing it all over again next weekend."

Rock in Rio, which was launched in 1985 by businessman Roberto Medina, has been taken to Spain and Portugal since then and has been attended by more than 7.4 million people, with performances done by 1,270 artists including Queen, AC/DC, Beyonce and Justin Timberlake.

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the music festival, organizers have set their eyes on an American city and spent 75 million U.S. dollars and built three major stages and three themed streets, which have fully transformed the City of Rock in Las Vegas, the state of Nevada.

Rock fans to the festival were thrilled with famous U.S. band No Doubt playing hits like "It's My Life," "Hey Baby," on the first day of the festival and the iconic rock band Metallica, Linkin Park performing on the second day.

At the City of Rock in Las Vegas, which was created four years ago and is now expanded to cover an area of about 16 hectares, three streets are lined up with 20 shops and restaurants, each connected to a stage where bands and artists will perform throughout the day. People could also taste diverse cuisines while enjoying excited music.

"It's so fun, I love to dance with them," said a 27-year-old Texas girl who only identified herself as Jessica.

In accordance with the Brazilian music festival's tradition, organizers of Rock in Rio USA have also chosen 16 lucky couples who will get married at the four-day festival.