Brazil Holidays - 2011

Brazilian New Year is one of the most traditionally celebrated festival for the people living there. New Year in Brazil is known as Ano Nove (Portuguese) but is more popularly known as Revillion. It is celebrated on January 1 as per the Gregorian Calendar.New Year is the time when people from various parts of the world like to celebrate it in Brazil. Pubs, party halls, clubs, beaches and even roads are thronged with people.On the New Year's day, it's a tradition to consume lentils and rice. It is believed to bring in prosperity and good fortune in the coming year. the New Year's Eve is the most important day for the people of Brazil. The best New Year celebrations can be seen in the most important city of Brazil, Rio de Janeiro. New Year celebrations are marked with numerous fireworks and crackers. Another feature of New Year's celebrations is the Brazilian Carnival. People dress up in gaudy clothes and walk down streets singing and dancing on beats of various traditional songs. The famous samba get people on their feet every year.

It is an annual festival in Brazil held forty days before Easter.Carnival is the most famous holiday in Brazil and has become an event of huge proportions. The country stops completely for almost a week and festivities are intense, day and night, mainly in coastal cities.Carnival is Rio's main event. It happens at the peak of summer, when Cariocas are at their best. Festivities attract thousands of people from all corners of the world. It is a 4-day celebration. It starts on Saturday, and ends on Fat Tuesday, or Mardi-Gras.In the southeastern cities of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, organized parades led by samba schools are influenced in aesthetics by Venice Carnival.

Good Friday, also known as Holy Friday, Black Friday, Great Friday, is a religious holiday observed primarily by Christians commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and his death at Calvary. The holiday is observed during Holy Week.At the start of Holy Week there are religious processions, ceremonies and masses held all over Brazil, and especially in Rio. One of the biggest ceremonies takes place at San Sebastian Cathedral with a commemorative liturgy celebrating the passion and death of Christ.

April 21 is a Brazilian national holiday, Tiradentes, commemorating the execution of Joaquim José da Silva Xavier.he was the leading member of the Brazilian revolutionary movement known as the Inconfidência Mineira whose aim was full independence from the Portuguese colonial power and to create a Brazilian republic.This holiday gets its name "Tiradentes", which means "Tooth-puller", from the fact that Xavier was a dentist. In National Holidays, the public service stops, corporations also take a break, most shops open late. Many Brazilians take short trips.

In Brazil, May day is an official holiday, and unions celebrate it with day-long public events. It commonly sees organized street demonstrations and marches by working people and their labour unions throughout most of the world. It is also when salaries for most professional categories and the minimum wage are traditionally readjusted.

Corpus Christi is a Christian observance that honors the Holy Eucharist. It is also known as the Feast of the Most Holy Body of Christ, as well as the Day of Wreaths. Corpus Christi is primarily celebrated by the Catholic Church.The Feast of Corpus Christi, which is a moveable feast, is celebrated on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday or, in countries where it is not a Holy Day of Obligation, on the Sunday after Holy Trinity.One of the most beautiful Corpus Christi traditions in many Brazilian towns is the community-created carpets that decorate streets for the procession, when wood shavings, flowers and other materials turn the pavement into brightly colored artworks using religious symbols.

The Independence Day of Brazil commonly called Sete de Setembro,it is a national holiday observed in Brazil on September 7 of every year. The date celebrates Brazil's Declaration of Independence from Portugal on September 7, 1822.In Brasília(Capital of Brazil) the day is celebrated at the Ministries Esplanade with a military parade in the presence of the President of Brazil. Independence Day is considered as a Public Day with outings, picnics and lots of outdoor events like parades, air shows, fireworks and musical concerts. Parades generally occur in the morning and the fireworks occur in the evening. Thousands of Brazilians gather in the road celebrating this day with banners, balloons and streamers. They proudly fly their Flag, sing songs and enjoy the day with their friends and families.

The day of Our Lady of Aparecida is celebrated on October 12th of every year in Brazil. Our Lady of Aparecida is the patron saint of Brazil, represented by a statue of the Virgin Mary located in the Basilica of Aparecida, in the city of Aparecida in the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil. Her feast on October 12 is a national holiday in Brazil. In the Brazilian religious tradition, the Aparecida Virgin, dedicated to the Immaculate Conception, is the Holy Mother, patron Saint of mothers-to-be and the new-born, rivers and the sea, gold, honey and beauty. This shrine is the most visited in Brazil and one of the most visited in the Catholic world.

All Souls’ Day is a day of alms giving and prayers for the dead.In many Catholic countries, people attend churches, which are appropriately draped in black, and visit family graves to honor their ancestors. All Souls’ Day is connected with All Saints’ Day, which is observed on the day before, where people take the time to decorate the graves of deceased loved ones and light candles in their memory.

Proclamation of the Republic Day celebrated on 15th November every year in Brazil. This commemorates the day in 1889 when Brazil's second Emperor, Dom Pedro II, was deposed and the United States of Brazil was declared by Field Marshal Deodoro da Fonseca.Military ceremonies are common, and guided tours and special programs make it an exciting day to visit the Republic Museum (Museu da Republica).

Christmas decorations in the country involve setting up Christmas trees in individual homes and adorning them beautifully with decorative items such as lights, plastic balls and glass balls. A highlight of Christmas celebrations in Brazil is making huge Christmas "trees" of electric lights. These "electric trees" can be seen against the night skies in major cities such as Brasilia, São Paulo, and Rio de Janeiro throughout the season. Caroling is quite a popular custom here. Various christmas carols are sung during Christmas to commemorate the birth of Christ.Having a multicultural population, the festivities in the country are influenced by ethnic ways.