Carnival

🎉 🇧🇷 Brazil • February 17, 2026

Days off: 2 days • Falls on Tuesday

Today is
July 28, 2026
Tuesday
Next Holiday
161days
161 days
Year Work Progress
ended
Carnival — holiday, Brazil (February 17, 2026)

Carnival Description

Brazil's most famous festival held annually before Lent, with main celebrations in 2026 falling on February 17th. Though not an official federal holiday, it is widely observed with most businesses closing. Rio de Janeiro's Sambódromo hosts elaborate samba school parades, while Salvador's streets pulse with trio elétricos and axé music. Street parties known as blocos attract millions across the country in a spectacular display of music, dance, and elaborate costumes.

📜 History & Origins

Carnival grew out of Entrudo, a pre-Lenten water-throwing festival brought by Portuguese settlers, and absorbed African rhythms through enslaved communities in the 18th and 19th centuries. Masked balls became fashionable in Rio by the 1800s, the first samba schools formed in the 1920s, and purpose-built Sambódromo parades began in 1984, turning the festival into a globally recognized spectacle.

🎉 How It's Celebrated

Each samba school spends the year building floats and thousands of costumes around a chosen theme, judged on music, choreography, and storytelling. Blocos range from small neighborhood gatherings to street parties drawing hundreds of thousands. Many revelers wear costumes every day, and Recife and Olinda stage distinctive frevo and maracatu celebrations instead of samba parades.

🍽️ Traditional Foods

Feijoada is served throughout Carnival at parties and street stalls. Fried snacks such as coxinha, pastel, and acarajé are sold by vendors along parade routes. Caipirinhas of cachaça and lime are the signature drink, and beer flows freely at blocos and samba school events.

← Previous New Year's Day Next Good Friday →