Public Holidays

Brazilians love their holidays, in fact you could say they work to live!! Some of the holidays have become massive affairs and world famous such as Carinval and New Year fireworks on the beach - others are more local or regional and low-key. You can see further details in Carnival and Festivals in Pernambuco section.

In Brazil, there are national (Federal) holidays and local State and Municipal holidays, although even the national holdays may be changeable according to the region you visit. Hence below we have produced a list of the main holidays and festive periods that occur in Recife and Pernambuco State.

Holidays may be based on religous celebrations e.g. the Roman Catholic church (Saints) or important national Brazilian (Federal) celebrations e.g Independence Day.

Cities often have their own municipal religous holidays for their patron saints, though as each is different, if you are going to a smaller city, check first it will be open before taking a long ride to only find it's closed up for the day.

Long weekends

Should a public holiday fall on a Thursday or a Tuesday, there is a considerable chance that many people will take advantage to take a long weekend, travel out of the city and squeeze the Friday or Monday respectively (which is then known as 'imprensado'). 

This can be important as it can affect the traffic conditions and hotel prices in your intended final destination.

 

National Public Holidays
2013
2014

New Year's Day

January 1

January 1

Carnival

Feb 8 - 12

Feb 28 - March 4

Good Friday

March 29

April 18

Easter Sunday

March 31

April 20

Independence Hero - Tiradentes

April 21

April 21

Labour Day

May 1

May 1

Corpus Christi

May 30

June 19

Sao Joao - State/regional holiday

June 24 June 24

Independence Day

September 7

September 7

Our Lady of Aparecida

October 12

October 12

All Souls' Day

November 2

November 2

Proclamation of the Republic

November 15

November 15

Christmas Day

December 25

December 25

 

Brazilian Annual Holidays

The main annual school holidays occur during the whole months of January and July, and between Christmas and New Year, Carnival and Easter weeks and around the São João festival (24th June). During these periods, many locals take longer breaks, which increases the prices of hotels and require the purchase of a minimum inclusive package.

In general the cost of hotels and related services may be cheaper mid-week (special offers) and in low-season (April-May and September-November), except when the main bank holidays occur. 

There are also special days to celebrate specific classes of workers e.g. civil servants, teachers and commerce, or to recognise the importance of the family to Brazilian society e.g. Mothers, Fathers and Childrens Days, although these may fall on Saturdays or Sundays. Your hotel or friends can advise.

Carnival

Officially, Carnivals starts on a Saturday and ends on the following Wednesday - in 2013, 9th - 13th February and 2014, 1st - 5th March - see more in Carnival and Festivals.

In practice, Brazilians like to get practising for the big annual festival weeks (even months) ahead, especially if they are in a band or part of a parade, called blocos.

If you arrive before Carnival week, and you're lucky with timing and have the energy, you could try to participate in one of these practices in Recife or Olinda.