Festivals and events
The dates worth planning around
Brazil has a festival calendar that will reshape a trip if you let it, and quietly ruin one if you book into it without knowing. These are the ones worth knowing about, what each actually is, and whether it is worth building a trip around or better met by accident.
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Carnival in Brazil
The five days ending on Ash Wednesday, which lands 46 days before Easter, so Carnival falls in February or the first days of March depending on the year. Street parties in most cities start well before the official weekend and run past it.
What Carnival is, how Rio, Salvador and Olinda differ, who each one actually suits, and how to plan a first Brazil trip around it or deliberately away from it.
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Círio de Nazaré
The main procession falls on the second Sunday of October, with a river procession and an evening procession on the Saturday before it, and a full season of related events running for about two weeks afterward.
One of the largest Catholic processions on earth fills Belém every October. What the Círio is, what the rope means, how to be present at it respectfully, and who should build a trip around it.
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Festa do Sairé
Five days in the third week of September, which the Prefeitura de Santarém set in 2026 as the rule for future years; 2026 ran from 17 to 21 September. The exact dates are announced each year, so look them up before booking. The program opens a few days earlier with the fetching of the ceremonial masts, and the village is busy for several days either side.
Alter do Chão's own festival, on the Tapajós: a Catholic procession that is also an Indigenous one, and two rival river-dolphin groups competing in an arena. Held in the low-water season, when the village is at its best anyway.
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Festa Junina
All through June, built around three saints' days: Santo Antônio on June 13, São João on June 24, and São Pedro on June 29. São João is the peak, and in parts of the northeast the celebrations run into early July.
Brazil's June festivals explained for Americans: what happens, why everyone dresses as a farmhand, where the real ones are, and why this is the festival you should stumble into rather than fly for.
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Festival de Parintins
Three consecutive nights, Friday through Sunday, on the last weekend of June. The performances start late in the evening and run into the early hours, and the town is busy for several days either side.
Three nights in an Amazon river town where two teams tell the same folk story with giant animated floats, and half the arena stays silent while the other half performs. What it is, and whether it belongs on your trip.
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Réveillon: New Year's Eve in Brazil
December 31 into January 1, every year, with the beach filling from late evening and fireworks at midnight. Many coastal hotels sell it as a package covering several nights around the date rather than the night itself.
How Brazil does New Year's Eve, why everyone wears white, what Copacabana is really like on the night, and how to book a beach town for the most expensive week of the Brazilian year.
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