Brazil Festivals Calendar: Carnival Dates and Year-Round Events

When Is Carnival in Brazil? Dates 2026, 2027 and 2028

Carnival in Brazil is a moveable feast — dates change every year because they tie to Easter. Carnival ends on Ash Wednesday in Brazil, which is 46 days before Easter Sunday, and Carnival Tuesday (the Brazilian Mardi Gras) is the day before. The official six days run from the Friday before Carnival Tuesday through Ash Wednesday morning.

Month-by-Month Festival Calendar

The biggest festivals at a glance. Detailed sections follow below.

Carnival (February-March)

The biggest festival in Brazil and probably the biggest party on Earth. Roughly 50 million people participate across the country. Each major city does it differently, and the difference matters.

Rio Carnival: Sambódromo and Street Blocos

Rio Carnival is two events at once: the Sambódromo samba parade (also written Sambadrome — ticketed, choreographed, visually overwhelming, the version you've seen on TV), and the blocos de rua, the free street blocos locals actually attend. The Sambódromo runs Friday through Tuesday with the top samba schools competing for the title; tickets go on sale around October-November and prices range from R$200 (rear stands) to R$5,000+ (frisas/box seats with food). Street blocos run from mid-January through Ash Wednesday with the heaviest concentration during Carnival week. There are over 500 of them. For deep planning, see our Rio Carnival 2026 guide.

Salvador Carnival: Trios Elétricos and Blocos

Salvador Carnival is the largest in Brazil by participation — around 2 million people on the streets daily. There is no Sambódromo. The format is trios elétricos: massive trucks with live bands and stacked sound systems that move through three different circuits across the city, followed by hundreds of thousands of people in blocos. You either follow free in the popular zones (pipoca), pay for an abadá (a t-shirt that gets you inside the rope barrier with the band), or watch from a camarote (a private box). For the full breakdown, see our Salvador Carnival 2026 guide.

Olinda and Recife

The third major Carnival, considered by many Brazilians the most authentic. Olinda's daytime Carnival in the colonial old town runs to live frevo and maracatu music, with giant papier-mâché puppets paraded through cobblestone streets. Recife runs a parallel Carnival with the Galo da Madrugada — officially the world's largest Carnival bloco. Cheaper, less internationalized, deeply Northeastern.

Réveillon: New Year's Eve (December 31)

Brazilians celebrate Réveillon on the beach. The biggest concentration is on Copacabana in Rio, where over 2 million people gather in white clothing for the midnight fireworks shot from barges off the beach. Free, public, and one of the largest New Year celebrations on Earth.

The dress code is white, the order of business is to jump seven waves while making seven wishes, and offerings of flowers are cast into the sea for Iemanjá at midnight. Live music stages run from Leme to Posto 6. Hotels along the beachfront double or triple their normal rates and require minimum 3-5 night stays.

Beyond Copacabana

Other strong Réveillon options: Salvador (Praia da Barra, similar format, smaller crowd), Florianópolis (Jurerê Internacional, more upscale), Buzios and Praia do Forte (smaller scale, easier crowds), and Trancoso (most exclusive, Quadrado square turns into an open-air party).

Festa de Iemanjá (February 2, Salvador)

The most spiritually intense festival in the calendar. February 2nd is the day dedicated to Iemanjá, the orixá of the sea in Candomblé. Hundreds of thousands gather at Rio Vermelho beach in Salvador to send offerings of flowers, perfumes, and small gifts into the ocean.

What you actually see: baianas in white walking through the streets with offerings on their heads, queues at the Casa de Iemanjá to deliver gifts, drums and music throughout the day, the entire city turning toward the sea. In the evening, fishing boats carry the largest offerings out into the bay and release them. It is religious, communal, and unlike any other beach gathering you will see.

Wear white if you can. Do not bring black-painted offerings (associated with a different orixá). Stay until evening — the sunset light on the offerings drifting out to sea is the moment that makes the day. For broader context, see our Afro-Brazilian culture in Salvador guide.

Festas Juninas (June)

Brazil's other great festival season, and the one most international visitors miss. Festas Juninas celebrate three Catholic saints (Santo Antônio on June 13, São João on June 23-24, São Pedro on June 29) but they evolved into harvest festivals in the rural Northeast and then into the second-biggest party season after Carnival.

What happens: bonfires, forró music (triangle, accordion, zabumba drum), quadrilha dancing (a square dance with mock weddings), corn-based foods (canjica, pamonha, milho cozido), and entire towns turning into outdoor party venues. Costumes are checkered shirts and straw hats.

Where to be

The biggest São João celebrations are in Campina Grande (Paraíba) and Caruaru (Pernambuco) — both call themselves "the largest São João in the world." Campina Grande's Parque do Povo hosts continuous concerts for 30 days, with all the major forró artists on rotation. Bahia has its own strong tradition centered on the towns around Salvador (Cachoeira, Cruz das Almas, Santo Amaro). Maceió and Aracaju are also strong.

Salvador itself has Festas Juninas events, but the heart of the celebration is in the smaller surrounding cities. If you are in Salvador in late June, day-trip out for at least one night.

Festival Folclórico de Parintins (Late June)

The most exotic festival in the Brazilian calendar. Parintins is a small island town on the Amazon River, halfway between Manaus and Santarém. Once a year, on the last weekend of June, it hosts a three-night competition between two rival bull groups — Caprichoso (blue) and Garantido (red) — that has divided the town in half since 1913.

The format is theatrical: each group puts on a 2.5-hour spectacle inside a custom 35,000-capacity stadium called the Bumbódromo, telling Indigenous Amazonian stories with massive moving puppets, allegorical dances, and live music. Locals wear blue or red; the entire town shuts other commerce for the festival week.

Getting there is the hard part: fly Manaus to Parintins (1 hour) or take a 24-hour boat. Book accommodation 4+ months ahead. Tickets sell out — buy through the official site or a Manaus tour operator. Festival 2026 dates: June 26-28.

Lavagem do Bonfim (Second Thursday of January)

One of Salvador's most photographed events: a procession of baianas in white walks 8 km from the Conceição da Praia church to the Igreja do Senhor do Bonfim, washing the church steps with perfumed water in a ritual that combines Catholic devotion with Candomblé ceremony for the orixá Oxalá.

What you actually see: tens of thousands of people in white walking the procession route through Cidade Baixa, music throughout, baianas spreading flowers, and a massive crowd at the church itself. The famous fitinhas do Bonfim (colored ribbons) are tied around wrists with three knots, each representing a wish. They fall off when the wishes are fulfilled.

Lavagem do Bonfim 2026 is on January 8. The day after is the Lavagem do Itapuã, a smaller version with similar texture.

Other Regional Festivals Worth Knowing

• Círio de Nazaré (Belém, October): The largest Catholic procession in Brazil, attracting 2 million participants in Belém do Pará on the second Sunday of October. Among the most religious festivals in the country.
• Bumba Meu Boi (Maranhão, June): A regional cousin of Parintins centered on São Luís with multiple bull groups performing throughout June and July.
• Festival de Inverno de Bonito (July): Music and gastronomy in the central-western Pantanal town of Bonito.
• Festival do Camarão (Aracaju, October): Shrimp festival with regional cuisine and live music in Sergipe.
• Rock in Rio (alternating years, September): Mainstream music festival in Rio's Olympic Park, the biggest in Latin America. Next edition: 2026.
• Lollapalooza Brasil (March, São Paulo): Annual three-day mainstream music festival.

Planning a Festival Trip to Brazil

Frequently Asked Questions