Christmas in Brazil

How Brazilians celebrate Christmas

The Christmas season in Brazil starts in late November and December, when shopping centres, avenues and squares light up and towns erect giant trees. Retail spending is boosted by the décimo terceiro, the "13th salary" that Brazilian law has required employers to pay since 1962, with the final instalment due by 20 December. At work and among friends, people play amigo secreto (called amigo oculto in Minas Gerais), a secret-friend gift swap revealed at a December party.

Homes and churches set up the presépio, the nativity scene, a tradition that came from Portugal and is especially strong in the Northeast and Minas Gerais. Many families also have a Christmas tree, often artificial and decorated with cotton or spray snow despite temperatures that can top 35°C. Through the Papai Noel dos Correios campaign, run by the Brazilian postal service since 1989, the public can "adopt" letters to Santa from people in need and deliver the gifts requested.

The big night is 24 December. Families gather in the evening, some go to the Missa do Galo ("Rooster's Mass") around midnight, and the ceia de Natal is served late, often only at midnight. Then come hugs, wishes of "Feliz Natal", presents and fireworks; in many homes a relative dresses up as Papai Noel. 25 December is calmer: lunch from the leftovers (the "almoço de Natal"), visits to the extended family, and in coastal cities, time at the beach. The season rolls straight on to Réveillon (New Year's Eve), when millions dress in white on Copacabana beach and offer flowers to the sea goddess Iemanjá, and ends on Dia de Reis, 6 January.

Christmas in Brazil, region by region

The South: Gramado, Canela and Curitiba

Brazil's most famous Christmas destination is Gramado, a mountain town in Rio Grande do Sul built in a German and Italian immigrant style. Its Natal Luz festival began in December 1986 to bring visitors in the quiet season and has grown into the country's largest Christmas event, with parades, light shows and theatre; Guinness World Records recognised its 2025–26 edition, which ran 88 days, as the world's longest Christmas festival. Neighbouring Canela holds its own Christmas programme, and cooler mountain evenings make the season feel closer to a European Christmas. In Curitiba, crowds gather each December for concerts sung by a choir from the windows of the historic Palácio Avenida building, and the German-descended towns of Santa Catarina decorate in a distinctly Central European style.

The Southeast: Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Minas Gerais

In Rio de Janeiro, the giant floating Christmas tree on the Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas, first installed in 1996, became one of the city's biggest annual attractions; after a six-year absence it returned to the lagoon in 2025. Christmas Day in Rio often means the beach, and the season builds to Réveillon in Copacabana. São Paulo lights up the Avenida Paulista and its shopping centres compete with ever-larger decorations. In Minas Gerais, the baroque churches of colonial towns host elaborate presépios, and groups of Folia de Reis musicians travel from house to house between Christmas and 6 January.

The Northeast: Pastoril, Reisado and the city of Natal

The Northeast, where 63.9% of people are Catholic according to the 2022 Census, keeps Brazil's richest folk Christmas. The Pastoril, a dramatic nativity play, sets two groups of shepherdesses, the red cordão encarnado and the blue cordão azul, competing in song and dance, with audiences cheering for their side. The Reisado, strong in Ceará and Alagoas, mixes music, dance and drama in honour of the Three Kings. Families set up the lapinha, the local name for the nativity scene, and in parts of the region it is ceremonially dismantled on 6 January. The capital of Rio Grande do Norte is even named Natal, because the city was founded on Christmas Day, 25 December 1599.

The Centre-West

In rural Goiás and Mato Grosso, Folia de Reis companies carry a decorated banner from farm to farm through the Christmas season, singing for the Three Kings and receiving food in return. In the capital, Brasília, the Esplanada and city buildings are decorated with lights.

The North: the Amazon

In the Amazon states, Christmas falls in the rainy season. The North has the highest share of evangelical Christians in Brazil, 36.8% according to the 2022 Census, so church services, choirs and Christmas cantatas are a major part of the season alongside Catholic Masses and street lights in cities such as Manaus and Belém.

Traditional Brazilian Christmas food: the ceia de Natal

The ceia de Natal is a generous, mixed table reflecting Portuguese tradition, local ingredients and modern supermarket favourites. Raisins in the rice are a famous point of family debate.

Christmas music, nativity scenes and folk plays

Brazilian Christmas has its own soundtrack. "Noite Feliz" (Silent Night) and "Bate o Sino" (Jingle Bells) are sung everywhere, and Simone's 1995 recording "Então é Natal", a Portuguese version of "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)", is so ubiquitous in December that it has become a national joke as well as a classic. Folk traditions keep older music alive: Folia de Reis companies play violas, accordions and drums, and Pastoril and Reisado performances in the Northeast combine song, dance and theatre. Nativity scenes range from simple family presépios to large public displays in churches and squares.

Brazilian Christmas season dates 2026

Brazil shares many of these customs with its neighbours; see Christmas in South America for an overview of the continent.

Christmas in Brazil: frequently asked questions

Christmas in nearby countries