The ceremony's cultural portions were structured as a concert featuring a number of mainstream Brazilian singers and bands, headlined by pop divas Ivete Sangalo and Gaby Amarantos.

Following the playing of the national anthem by Saulo Laucas, a singer who was born blind and was diagnosed with a mild form of autism as a child, flagbearers representing the countries that participated in these Paralympics entered the stadium.

[3] The cultural program of the closing ceremony was structured as a concert, being headlined by Brazilian pop divas Ivete Sangalo and Gaby Amarantos, joined by Vanessa da Mata, Céu, Saulo Fernandes, Sepultura guitarist Andreas Kisser, Armandinho, Johnathan Bastos, the groups Nação Zumbi and Dream Team do Passinho [pt], the pop singer Nego do Borel, and British singer Calum Scott (who collaborated with Ivete Sangalo on "Transformar", the official song of the 2016 Summer Paralympics).

[2][6][3] During Philip Craven's closing speech, a moment of silence was held for Iranian cyclist Bahman Golbarnezhad, who had died the previous day in an accident during a road cycling event.

"[7][1] Craven went on to praise Brazil's reception to the Games and the overall performances of athletes, stating that people "were in awe at what you could do and forgot about what they believed you could not.