Brazil Holidays

Brazil has ten national public holidays, plus state and city holidays that change from place to place. Some of these are big celebrations, some are solemn affairs.

Brazil’s national holidays and key dates

The 2027 dates follow the holiday laws and Easter (March 28, 2027) until the federal government publishes its official list in late December. Brazil keeps holidays on their date, so a Saturday holiday is not moved to a Monday. Easter Monday and August 15 are not holidays in Brazil.

The southern winter, June to August, has no national holiday at all, while the southern spring packs five into under eleven weeks.

Carnival and the other optional days

Carnival is the holiday everyone knows, and legally it is not a national holiday. The federal government lists Carnival Monday and Tuesday as pontos facultativos, optional days off: federal offices close and reopen at 2 pm on Ash Wednesday, while private employers decide for themselves unless a state or city law, or a labor agreement, gives the day off.

Plan around it anyway. In 2026, banks closed on both days and reopened at noon on Ash Wednesday, and in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Carnival Tuesday is a full state holiday by law.

Carnival celebrations are massive in Brazil, especially in Rio de Janeiro, Salvador and Olinda. In Rio, huge and colorful parades take place in the Sambadrome, and there are parties throughout the city. Rio’s hotels were more than 99% full for Carnival 2026, so if Carnival is your reason to go, book early. Start with our Rio Carnival tours, or look at Salvador’s Pelourinho and Olinda.

What closes on a public holiday

Brazil’s holiday law allows only “absolutely indispensable” work on a national holiday, and government offices and bank branches close. Pix, Brazil’s instant payment system, keeps running around the clock. Take out cash before a long weekend (our Brazil money guide covers cards and exchange).

Shops are a local matter: stores may open on a holiday where the local labor agreement and city rules allow it, so it varies from city to city.

Two optional afternoons catch travelers out. Federal offices close at 1 pm on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve. In the 2025 season, banks opened only from 9 to 11 am, Brasília time, on December 24 and did not open at all on December 31.

Easter week, Christmas and New Year

Good Friday is a national holiday. In Ouro Preto, Semana Santa, the week before Easter, grows into about two weeks of centuries-old processions, and the streets are laid with devotional carpets of sawdust. Our Ouro Preto tours can be timed to it.

Rio bills its New Year’s Eve as the largest in the world: 2.6 million people saw in 2026 on Copacabana beach, and more than 5.1 million across the city’s 13 stages. See our Rio New Year’s tours if you want to be on that beach.

Carnival, Easter week and the days between Christmas and New Year are the dates to plan around most carefully. Book beds early and leave slack in the schedule. For weather and crowds month by month, see the best time to visit Brazil.

The stories behind the dates

Tiradentes Day marks the day Joaquim José da Silva Xavier was hanged in Rio de Janeiro, April 21, 1792. His nickname, Tiradentes, means tooth puller: he was a cavalry ensign who pulled teeth on the side, and one of the leaders of the Inconfidência Mineira, a plot against Portuguese rule. His quartered body was put on display along the road to Vila Rica, today’s Ouro Preto.

October 12 honors Our Lady of Aparecida, Brazil’s patron saint. November 2 is Finados, All Souls’ Day, often called the Day of the Dead. In contrast to Mexico’s Day of the Dead celebrations, in Brazil this is a quiet and private holiday, with people honoring the dead at cemeteries and churches with candles and flowers.

Black Consciousness Day, the newest national holiday, was first observed nationwide in 2024. November 20 is the day in 1695 when Zumbi dos Palmares, who led resistance against slavery at the Quilombo dos Palmares, was killed by Portuguese troops.

State and city holidays where you are likely to travel

Immaculate Conception Day, December 8, is not a national holiday, whatever older lists say. It is a city holiday in Salvador and Manaus, where Nossa Senhora da Conceição is the patron saint. The local dates worth knowing:

• Rio de Janeiro: January 20, São Sebastião, the city’s patron saint. Statewide, Carnival Tuesday, April 23 (São Jorge) and Corpus Christi.
• Bahia: July 2, Bahia Independence Day, across the state. In Salvador, also June 24 (São João) and December 8.
• Amazonas: September 5, marking the region’s elevation to a province. In Manaus, also October 24 (the city’s anniversary), December 8 and Corpus Christi.
• Paraná, for Iguaçu Falls: no state holiday in the 2026 state calendar. Foz do Iguaçu adds June 10 (the city’s anniversary), June 24 (São João) and Corpus Christi.
• São Paulo: July 9, marking the Constitutionalist Revolution of 1932.

If you are shaping a custom Brazil trip, share your dates when you get in touch, so the holidays that touch them are part of the plan from the start. Or browse our Brazil tours.