Brazil Holidays

Hey buddies, what’s up? Let’s learn a little more about Brazilian culture today? A new year has started, and it’s typical among Brazilians to check the calendar for Brazil Holidays, and also Rio de Janeiro’s holidays. If you want to see more information about how to spend your vacations in Brazil speaking Portuguese, we have this Dica just for you. Do you know the most important Brazilian holidays? No? So, to keep you updated, here are the Brazilian holidays for 2022. Let’s have a look:

Brazil Holidays in 2022

Below you have the Brazil holiday calendar for the current year 2022:

On Dia dos Professores, us at Rio & Learn give our beloved teachers the day off, so they can rest and recharge! This happens in most schools as a way to show our gratitude to these professionals!

On commemorative dates everything works normally in Brazil, but on Brazilian national holidays, Brazilians have a day off. In addition to the national holidays, Rio de Janeiro has its own holidays!

Rio de Janeiro Holidays

Now that we have taken a look at the holidays in Brazil for 2022, let’s take a look at some Rio de Janeiro holidays. Remember: they are not celebrated nationally but only for this city:

 Brazilian Celebrations

Brazil has many important festivities that are deeply rooted in our culture. As a Catholic country with due to our Portuguese colonization, Brazil has many religious holidays. Some have retained their Catholic religious nature, such as Easter and All Souls’ Day. Others have adapted and become part of Brazilian culture, even for those who are not Catholics. Let’s analyze the most important festivities to understand their purpose:

• Carnival: The famous carnival, was born as a period of celebration before the start of Lent, 40 days of fasting in the lead up to Easter, but has become much more than that. Carnival is celebrated in other places across the world, but it is a special highlight in Brazil. It is celebrated in several ways: with Samba School parades or street carnival, for example. It is a period where people dress up, and can reverse roles just for fun (many men dress up as women, for example, and without any prejudice).
• Festa Junina: Originally created to celebrate St. John, these became folklore parties with typical clothing, food and dances. The clothing is often very tacky, a great mix of prints and materials. Men typically draw fake mustaches and even monobrows. Women exaggerate on their blush. Some people also darken one of the front teeth with eyeliner, to look like a tooth is missing. That’s because the festivity is themed around a idea of countryside and hillbilly people.
• São Cosme e Damião: São Cosme and Damião were Catholic doctors who practiced their profession free of charge. They are now considered the patron saints of children, doctors and pharmacists. So there is a festive day dedicated to them in Brazil which is rather curious. People who need help with something related to personal of family illnesses make promises to São Cosme e Damião in return for their prayers to be heard. To pay for their promises, the worshippers make small bags full of sweets which are distributed to children on September 26th and 27th every year. It is very common for these bags to be distributed in schools, malls or even on the street. It is the closest Brazil has to Halloween.
• Children’s Day: originally a holiday of Nossa Senhora de Aparecida. As she is the patron saint of children, many people have associated this day with children as well. It is common for children to receive gifts and for their parents to spend quality time with them.

Brazil Holidays: Feriadão

Here in Brazil, there is something we call Feriadão. It means a Big Holiday, and it happens when the holiday comes next to the weekend. If a holiday falls on a Thursday, for example, most Brazilians won’t work on Friday, if their company agrees. If the holiday is on a Tuesday, Brazilians will usually take the Monday off, it’s especially common in schools and small offices. Is there anything like that in your country?

Brazilian Vacations

In Brazil, when you complete your first year in your job, you have the right to take one month off work and go vacation. Of course, the schedule of the vacation is agreed between the company and the employee. But the majority of our vacations are between December and February, and people typically take that time to travel.

Now we know the most important holidays, and the Brazilian holidays in 2022. Did you know anything about Brazil’s national holidays before reading our Dica? Are any of these dates the same in your country? Which ones? Let’s compare in the comments!

See you soon!
Hugs from Rio & Learn!

         
Click on the links below to see more Dicas
Rio de Janeiro New Years
Festa Junina in Brazil
Corpus Christi in Brazil
Holiday in Portuguese