Brazil public holidays 2028

Brazil's movable dates in 2028 hang off Easter Sunday, April 16: Good Friday is two days earlier (April 14), Carnival Tuesday 47 days earlier (February 29) and Corpus Christi 60 days later (June 15).

The national holidays for 2028 are fixed by law. The optional days are not: Brazil's Ministry of Management (MGI) usually publishes the 2028 ordinance in late December 2027. The ones listed here appear in every recent ordinance; bridge days and the Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve afternoons that the 2026 ordinance added only apply if the 2028 ordinance repeats them.

In 2028, January 1 falls on a Saturday. Brazil does not move holidays to the next weekday, so that date gives no extra day off to people who work Monday to Friday.

2028 is a municipal election year: the first round is on October 1 and any runoff on October 29, both Sundays. Under article 380 of the Electoral Code, an election day set by the Constitution is a national holiday; since it is always a Sunday it does not change the business-day count and is left out of the totals above.

Of the 15 dates in the 2028 table, 10 are national holidays set by federal law: Lei 662/1949 (January 1, April 21, May 1, September 7, November 2 and 15, December 25), Lei 6.802/1980 (October 12) and Lei 14.759/2023 (November 20), plus Good Friday. Only essential work is allowed on those days, and work without a compensatory day off is paid double (TST Súmula 146).

The other 5 are pontos facultativos of the federal civil service. They bind neither private employers nor states and cities: in 2028, whether you work on Carnival Monday and Tuesday (February 28 and 29) or Ash Wednesday morning (March 1, optional until 2 pm) depends on local law, your union agreement or your employer.

Public Servant Day (Lei 8.112/1990, art. 236) only applies to federal staff and falls on a Saturday in 2028, so there is a day off only if the ordinance moves it. November 20, a national holiday since Lei 14.759/2023, falls on a Monday.

A long weekend (feriadão) is three or more days off in a row: a weekend plus a holiday on Monday or Friday. A bridge (ponte) is a holiday on Tuesday or Thursday, which becomes four days off if you take the Monday or Friday. 2028 has five long weekends and three bridges from national holidays alone.

Long weekends (no leave needed)

• Friday, April 14 to Sunday, April 16: 3 days · Good Friday (Paixão de Cristo)
• Friday, April 21 to Sunday, April 23: 3 days · Tiradentes Day (Tiradentes)
• Saturday, April 29 to Monday, May 1: 3 days · Labor Day (Dia Mundial do Trabalho)
• Saturday, November 18 to Monday, November 20: 3 days · Black Consciousness Day (Dia Nacional de Zumbi e da Consciência Negra)
• Saturday, December 23 to Monday, December 25: 3 days · Christmas Day (Natal)

Bridge days (one day of leave, four days off)

• Thursday, September 7 to Sunday, September 10: 4 days · Independence Day (Independência do Brasil) · take Friday, September 8 off
• Thursday, October 12 to Sunday, October 15: 4 days · Our Lady of Aparecida (Nossa Senhora Aparecida) · take Friday, October 13 off
• Thursday, November 2 to Sunday, November 5: 4 days · All Souls' Day (Finados) · take Friday, November 3 off

If your employer adopts the pontos facultativos

Counting the full-day optional days (Carnival and Corpus Christi), these also open up for people who get them off:

• Saturday, February 26 to Tuesday, February 29: 4 days · Carnival Monday (Carnaval), Carnival Tuesday (Carnaval)

Business days = Monday to Friday minus national holidays that fall on a weekday. Pontos facultativos (Carnival, Ash Wednesday, Corpus Christi, Public Servant Day) and state or municipal holidays are not subtracted. In 2028, the month with the fewest business days is April (18), and the ones with the most are March and August (23 each).

The 10 national holidays of 2028 are highlighted; optional days are shaded grey. Weeks start on Sunday, as Brazilian calendars do. To print, use your browser's print command: each month is its own table.

The list above is national. Under Lei 9.093/1995, each state may add its own founding date (art. 1, II) and each municipality up to four religious holidays, counting Good Friday, which falls on April 14 in 2028 (art. 2). The yearly federal ordinance usually tells federal offices to observe those local holidays where they apply.

One example: July 9, São Paulo state's Data Magna, falls on a Sunday in 2028. Corpus Christi (June 15) is a municipal holiday in many cities, and some also declare Carnival a holiday. Because this varies city by city, check your municipality's official calendar before setting deadlines.

How many public holidays does Brazil have in 2028?

10 national holidays: New Year's Day (January 1), Good Friday (April 14), Tiradentes Day (April 21), Labor Day (May 1), Independence Day (September 7), Our Lady of Aparecida (October 12), All Souls' Day (November 2), Proclamation of the Republic (November 15), Black Consciousness Day (November 20), and Christmas Day (December 25). 9 fall between Monday and Friday. Carnival, Ash Wednesday and Corpus Christi are optional days, not national holidays.

Is Carnival a public holiday in Brazil in 2028?

Not nationally. In 2028, Carnival Monday is February 28, Carnival Tuesday is February 29 and Ash Wednesday is March 1. The federal government treats them as pontos facultativos (Ash Wednesday until 2 pm). A day off is only guaranteed where a state or municipal law makes it a holiday, or when a union agreement or the employer grants it.

Is November 20 a national holiday in Brazil in 2028?

Yes. Lei 14.759/2023 made November 20, Black Consciousness Day (Dia Nacional de Zumbi e da Consciência Negra), a national holiday. In 2028 it falls on a Monday.

When is Corpus Christi in 2028, and is it a holiday in Brazil?

Corpus Christi is Thursday, June 15, 2028, 60 days after Easter. Federally it is an optional day; many cities make it a municipal holiday. If you get the Thursday off, taking Friday, June 16, gives four days in a row.

How many working days are there in Brazil in 2028?

251 working days, counting Monday to Friday and subtracting the 9 national holidays that fall on weekdays. The month with the fewest business days is April (18), and the ones with the most are March and August (23 each). Optional days and local holidays are not subtracted.