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Religious festival · Pirenópolis
The Holy Spirit Festival of the historic town of Pirenópolis, in Goiás, featuring folias (devotional bands), masses, masked horsemen and the Cavalhadas, an equestrian reenactment of the battle between Christians and Moors.
In the photo: Pirenópolis
Illustrative images. The pictures in this guide are illustrations based on the real place, not photographs, and may differ from it.
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Holy Spirit Festival of Pirenópolis — Pirenópolis
Around Pentecost Sunday, 50 days after Easter, in May or June; the Cavalhadas begin on Pentecost Sunday and last three days.
May/June
Dates change every year: check this year's date before you travel.
The festival
The Holy Spirit Festival of Pirenópolis has been celebrated since 1819 and was registered as Brazil’s cultural heritage by IPHAN in 2010. Of Portuguese origin, devotion to the Holy Spirit spread to the gold towns of Goiás and in Pirenópolis took on its own form, blending religion, popular theater and cerrado culture. The festival reaches its peak on Pentecost Sunday, 50 days after Easter, when the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles is commemorated.
Preparations begin weeks earlier with the Folias do Divino, groups of horsemen and musicians who visit farms and homes carrying the red banner of the white dove. Nine days before Pentecost the novena starts, and the town fills with masses, processions, morning bugle calls with bands and flags on the windows. The festival sponsor, called the Emperor, receives a crown and is responsible for organizing events and distributing food.
On Pentecost Sunday the Cavalhadas begin, an equestrian reenactment that lasts three days. Twelve Christian horsemen, dressed in blue, face twelve Moors, in red, in a field surrounded by bleachers, with races, recited embassies and lances, until the Christians’ victory and the Moors’ conversion, in memory of Charlemagne’s battles. Between combats, the masked riders appear: horsemen wearing masks of ox, jaguar and other animals, and horses adorned with flowers and ribbons, who circulate through the streets and the arena teasing the public. The procession of masked riders through the downtown streets is one of the most anticipated moments.
The festival takes over Pirenópolis’s historic center, with cobbled streets, colonial houses and the Mother Church of Our Lady of the Rosary. For visitors, it is an opportunity to see a living tradition kept by local families, a little more than two hours from Brasília and Goiânia.
The three days of Cavalhadas, starting on Pentecost Sunday. The procession of masked riders through the downtown streets. The arrival of the Folias do Divino and the masses at the Mother Church of the Rosary.
For the Cavalhadas, arrive early at the field, as the bleachers fill up; bring a hat, sunscreen and water. Stay in the town center to follow the processions and masked riders on foot. In May and June the days are usually dry and the nights cool. Check the parish and city hall schedules, which change slightly each year.
Foods offered by the Emperor and the festival families, such as verônica (sugar candy molded into a medallion) and homemade sweets; in restaurants, empadão goiano, pamonha and dishes with pequi.
Pirenópolis is small, and rooms book up fast during the Holy Spirit weeks. Reserve very early; the date follows Pentecost Sunday.
In the city
May/June
May/JuneOn the days leading up to Pentecost Sunday, 50 days after Easter; therefore it falls in May or June.
Paraty’s most traditional religious festival, with a novena, processions through the historic center, a solemn Mass and a Sunday Pentecost procession.
May/June/JulyFor about a month, from late May or early June until late June or early July, with the high points on the eves of Saint Anthony (June 13), Saint John (June 24) and Saint Peter (June 29).
Campina Grande’s June festival, in the Agreste of Paraíba, which fills Parque do Povo for about a month with forró shows, quadrilhas, bonfires and corn-based foods.
May/JuneThroughout June, with programming that usually starts in late May or early June and ends around the feast of Saint Peter on June 29; the highlight is the night before Saint John’s Day.
The June festival of Caruaru, in the Agreste of Pernambuco, the Forró Capital, with concerts at the Pátio de Eventos Luiz Gonzaga, traditional forró (forró pé de serra) at Alto do Moura, and oversized corn-based dishes.
Your questions
They begin on Pentecost Sunday, 50 days after Easter, and last three days as part of the Holy Spirit Festival. That is why they fall in May or June.
They are a mounted reenactment of the fight between Christians and Moors, inspired by the stories of Charlemagne, with races, recited embassies and lances. It ends with the Christians’ victory and the conversion of the Moors.
They are costumed horsemen wearing masks of ox, jaguar and other animals, and horses decorated with flowers and ribbons. They circulate through the streets and the arena during the Holy Spirit Festival, playfully interacting with the public.
Festivals and events in Brazil
June/JulyBetween late June and early July, always including June 29, German Settler Day, a municipal holiday in Petrópolis.
Petrópolis’s German Settler festival, featuring traditional German food and beer, folk dance groups, and events around the Crystal Palace.
June/SeptemberEvery two years, in odd-numbered years; usually in September, sometimes in June. · Every two years
Rio de Janeiro’s major book fair, held every two years, with publisher booths, author events and programming for children and young people.
JuneDuring the June festival cycle: the bulls are baptized on June 23 and the cycle ends on June 30, the day of Saint Marçal; performances may continue into July.
São Luís’s São João, centered on the bumba-meu-boi and recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage element: groups of different accents perform in arraiais across the city, with toadas, matracas, zabumbas and embroidered bulls.
June/July/AugustIn July, for about a month, sometimes starting in late June and ending in early August.
Campos do Jordão classical music festival in the Mantiqueira Range, with orchestra and chamber music concerts at the Claudio Santoro Auditorium and other city venues, plus a training program for young musicians.
JuneOn the last weekend of June, over three consecutive nights, from Friday to Sunday.
The rivalry between the Garantido (red) and Caprichoso (blue) bumba-meu-boi groups at the Bumbódromo in Parintins, an island on the Amazon River: three nights of toadas, giant floats and Amazonian legends.
JanuaryOn January 20, the day of the city’s patron saint, which is a municipal holiday in Rio de Janeiro.
The patron saint’s day in Rio de Janeiro, with masses and the procession that carries the saint’s image from Tijuca to the Metropolitan Cathedral in the downtown area.