Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, public holidays may be legislated at the federal, statewide and municipal levels. Most holidays are observed nationwide. Apart from the yearly official holidays (listed below), the Constitution of Brazil also establishes that

election day Election day or polling day is the day on which general elections are held. In many countries, general elections are always held on a Saturday or Sunday, to enable as many voters as possible to participate; while in other countries elections a ...

s are to be considered national holidays as well. General elections are biennially held on the first Sunday of October in the first round, and on the last Sunday of October in the second round. Numerous religious and ethnic holidays are also celebrated in Brazil.

Secondary holidays

Fat Tuesday Mardi Gras (, ) refers to events of the Carnival celebration, beginning on or after the Christian feasts of the Epiphany (Three Kings Day) and culminating on the day before Ash Wednesday, which is known as Shrove Tuesday. is French for " ...

, The day of Carnival. * Ash Wednesday Wednesday after Carnival, the last Carnival day. * Good Friday, the Friday preceding

Easter Sunday Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the ''Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel P ...

, is a municipal holiday in many places. * Dia das Mães, the Brazilian observation of

Mother's Day Mother's Day is a celebration honoring the mother of the family or individual, as well as motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society. It is celebrated on different days in many parts of the world, most commonly in th ...

, is celebrated every second Sunday in May. * Corpus Christi is celebrated on the Thursday, 60 days after Easter Sunday. * Dia dos Namorados, the

ian equivalent of St. Valentine's Day, is observed on June 12. On this day, boyfriends and girlfriends, husbands and wives, exchange gifts, cards, or a flower bouquet. It is celebrated on the eve of St. Anthony of Padua's day, because, in Brazil, he is considered the patron of those who wants a loving companion. * Festas Juninas, the Catholic feasts of Santo Antônio, São João and São Pedro are celebrated June 13, 24, and 29 respectively in many Brazilian cities, especially in the Northeast region. * Dia dos Pais, the Brazilian observation of

Father's Day Father's Day is a holiday of honoring fatherhood and paternal bonds, as well as the influence of fathers in society. In Catholic countries of Europe, it has been celebrated on 19 March as Saint Joseph's Day since the Middle Ages. In the Unite ...

, is celebrated every second Sunday in August. * Dia das Crianças, the Brazilian

Children's Day Children's Day is a commemorative date celebrated annually in honor of children, whose date of observance varies by country. In 1925, International Children's Day was first proclaimed in Geneva during the World Conference on Child Welfare. Sin ...

, is celebrated on October 12, coinciding with the feast of Our Lady of Aparecida.

Regional holidays

Federal law gives each state the right to create one state holiday, and each municipality to create up to four municipal holidays. Some of the more notable ones are: * January 12: Founding of Belém, City of

Belém Belém (; Portuguese for Bethlehem; initially called Nossa Senhora de Belém do Grão-Pará, in English Our Lady of Bethlehem of Great Pará) often called Belém of Pará, is a Brazilian city, capital and largest city of the state of Pará in t ...

only. * January 20:

Saint Sebastian Saint Sebastian (in Latin: ''Sebastianus''; Narbo, Gallia Narbonensis, Roman Empire c. AD 255 – Rome, Italia, Roman Empire c. AD 288) was an early Christian saint and martyr. According to traditional belief, he was killed during the Diocle ...

(São Sebastião), City of

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...

only. * January 22: Founding of the first city in Brazil, São Vicente. City of São Vicente only. * January 25: Founding of

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for ' Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the Ga ...

(Aniversário de São Paulo), City of São Paulo only. * January 26: Founding of Santos (Aniversario de Santos), City of Santos only. * April 21: Founding of Brasilia (Aniversário de Brasília), coinciding with

Tiradentes Joaquim José da Silva Xavier (; 12 November 1746 – 21 April 1792), known as Tiradentes (), was a leading member of the colonial Brazilian revolutionary movement known as Inconfidência Mineira, whose aim was full independence from Po ...

, Federal District only. * April 23:

Saint George Saint George (Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin: Georgius, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christian who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to tradition he was a soldie ...

(São Jorge), City of Rio de Janeiro only. In 2007, governor

Sérgio Cabral Sergius is a male given name of Ancient Roman origin after the name of the Latin ''gens'' Sergia or Sergii of regal and republican ages. It is a common Christian name, in honor of Saint Sergius, or in Russia, of Saint Sergius of Radonezh, and h ...

expanded this holiday to all the

State of Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro () is one of the 27 federative units of Brazil. It has the second largest economy of Brazil, with the largest being that of the state of São Paulo. The state, which has 8.2% of the Brazilian population, is responsible for 9.2% of ...

. * July 2: Bahia Independence Day, State of

Bahia Bahia ( , , ; meaning "bay") is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo, Minas Gerais, and Rio de Janeiro) and the 5th-largest b ...

only. * July 8: Sergipe Political Emancipation Day, State of

Sergipe Sergipe (), officially State of Sergipe, is a state of Brazil. Located in the Northeast Region along the Atlantic coast of the country, Sergipe is the smallest state in Brazil by geographical area at , larger only than the Federal District. Serg ...

only * July 9:

Constitutionalist Revolution The Constitutionalist Revolution of 1932 (sometimes also referred to as Paulista War or Brazilian Civil War) is the name given to the uprising of the population of the Brazilian state of São Paulo against the Brazilian Revolution of 1930 whe ...

(Revolução Constitucionalista),

State of São Paulo State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

only. * August 15: Our Lady of the Good Voyage (Nossa Senhora da Boa Viagem), City of Belo Horizonte only. * August 26: Emancipation of the city of Campo Grande, City of

Campo Grande Campo Grande (, ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul in the Center-West region of the country. The city is nicknamed ''Cidade Morena'' ("Swarthy City" in Portuguese) because of the reddish-brown colour o ...

only. * September 8: Our Lady of the Light in the Pine (Nossa Senhora da Luz dos Pinhais), City of

Curitiba Curitiba () is the capital and largest city in the state of Paraná in Brazil. The city's population was 1,948,626 , making it the eighth most populous city in Brazil and the largest in Brazil's South Region. The Curitiba Metropolitan area ...

only. * September 20: Farroupilha's Revolution (Revolução Farroupilha), State of Rio Grande do Sul only. * October 11: Creation of the State of Mato Grosso do Sul, separated from Mato Grosso in 1977, State of Mato Grosso do Sul only. * October 3: Uruaçú and Cunhaú Martyrs Day, State of

Rio Grande do Norte Rio Grande do Norte (, , ) is one of the states of Brazil. It is located in the northeastern region of the country, forming the northeasternmost tip of the South American continent. The name literally translates as "Great Northern River", re ...

only. * October 24: Founding of

Goiânia Goiânia (; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Goiás. With a population of 1,536,097, it is the second-largest city in the Central-West Region and the 10th-largest in the country. Its metropolitan area has a population ...

, City of Goiânia only. * November 4: Founding of São Carlos, City of São Carlos only. * November 20:

Zumbi Zumbi (1655 – November 20, 1695), also known as Zumbi dos Palmares (), was a Brazilian quilombola leader, being one of the pioneers of resistance to slavery of Africans by the Portuguese in colonial Brazil. He was also the last of the kings ...

of Palmares, Black Awareness Day (Zumbi dos Palmares, Dia da Consciência Negra), cities of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro only. * November 21: Our Lady of Apresentação (Nossa Senhora da Apresentação) Day, City of

Natal NATAL or Natal may refer to: Places * Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, a city in Brazil * Natal, South Africa (disambiguation), a region in South Africa ** Natalia Republic, a former country (1839–1843) ** Colony of Natal, a former British colony ( ...

only. * November 30:

Evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual expe ...

Day (Dia do Evangélico), Federal District only. * December 8: Our Lady of Conceição (Dia de Nossa Senhora da Conceição), State of

Pernambuco Pernambuco () is a States of Brazil, state of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast region of the country. With an estimated population of 9.6 million people as of 2020, making it List of Brazilian states by population, sev ...

, City of Belo Horizonte, City of

Dourados Dourados is a Brazilian municipality, situated in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, Southwest of Campo Grande (the state's capital). It has a population of about 225,000 inhabitants, and its economy is based mainly in arable agriculture (particu ...

, and Cities of Santa Maria and São Leopoldo (Rio Grande do Sul) only. * December 19: Emancipation of the Province of Paraná, State of Paraná only.

References

... {{DEFAULTSORT:Public Holidays In Brazil

Public holidays Observances in Brazil Brazilian entertainment-related lists Holidays