Holidays Around the World

Christmas in Brazil

Where in the World is Brazil?
Brazil is located on the continent of South America. It has the Equator running right through it! The Amazon River is located in Brazil also. Christmas in Brazil falls during their summer time. It borders the Atlantic Ocean.

Temperatures during the holiday season are summer temperatures!

When does their Christmas season begin and end?
Christmas in Brazil begins in early December with families setting up the creche or manger called a presépio. All of their scenes include baby Jesus, Mary, Joseph and the Magi.

Christmas Eve
Brazilian families enjoy dancing and Christmas carols on Christmas Eve before they attend midnight mass. They decorate their Christmas tree on this day with the windows usually open, since it is summer, and they can hear Christmas carols being sung outside in the streets. Holiday balls (which are large parties with lots of dancing) and banquets are popular from December 24th until January 6th.

Christmas Day
Most families still gather together and attend midnight mass on Christmas Eve. Midnight mass is known as Missa do Galo, which means "Mass of the Rooster." Then they return to their homes early in the morning to eat a big meal! Most Brazilian families eat turkey stuffed with farofa, which is a special stuffing. Sometimes this meal may have foods like roast pig, steamed fish pie, and lots of Brazilian desserts. Inside the steamed fish pie you might find corn meal, cassana flour, sardines or shrimp. A special dessert, call rabanada, which is like French toast, is always part of the Christmas feast.

On Christmas Day, some families take plates of food to those families that are not as fortunate as them.

Who is their Gift Giver?
Some children receive gifts from Papa Noel. A long time ago, some people tried changing the traditional looking Santa Claus to one that looked more like their people. It was not a very popular idea, so Santa Claus as we know him, won! In Brazil though, they call him Papa Noel. He does not arrive down the chimney since most homes do not have fireplaces! He just walks in the front door with his gifts!

Do they exchange gifts or receive presents?
Most families learn that at Christmas time it is more important to celebrate Jesus’ birth than it is to receive presents. Many people in Brazil are poor, but they still try to give food items to people poorer than they are on Christmas Eve. Sometimes it might be a potato or two, or they might even wrap up a little bit of rice that they have in their cupboards. They wrap these items in white paper and bring them to church with them on Christmas Eve. They place them in front of the manger.

In their homes, after the tree is all decorated, many children bring their shoes and place them under the tree. Other children put their shoes by their bed or even outside. The shoes will be filled with gifts in the morning! And in other areas, parent's hide presents outdoors and the children search for them.

Children receive many kinds of gifts for Christmas. Children can get handmade gifts, dolls, games, electronic toys, clothing and books.

The Christmas tree and other decorations
Families in Brazil do not decorate their Christmas tree until December 24th. Their tree is not an evergreen tree like we use in the United States. Their tree might be an orange tree that gets decorated. Some of the things you might see on a Brazilian Christmas tree are strings of popcorn, tissue paper shapes, and bells. As they decorate, they usually sing Christmas carols, and read or tell stories of baby Jesus or about the first Christmas tree.