Is Rio de Janeiro’s birthday a public holiday?

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The anniversary of the city of Rio de Janeiro is celebrated this Friday, March 1st. But, despite being celebratorythe date is not a municipal holiday, while January 20th, the day of the patron saint Saint Sebastian, is. This causes confusion among many people, and the origin of this mistake may be in the past, when the birthday changed days.

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Is March 1st a holiday in Rio de Janeiro?

Although March 1st is Rio de Janeiro’s birthday, the date is not a municipal holidaywhile January 20th, the day of the patron saint São Sebastião, is

Why did Rio de Janeiro’s anniversary date change?

Until the 1960s, the date considered for the city’s anniversary was January 20. In addition to being the patron saint’s day — of the place that was born as the settlement named São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro — the date was celebrated as the day of the Portuguese victory over invaders, which guaranteed possession of the territory in 1567.

Everything changed at an event held in a crowded Maracanãzinho, with 10 thousand people, and a three-ton cake — with 200 kilos of icing — in 1965. With its 16 meters wide and 5 meters high, it was necessary for 200 scouts to distribute the cake. dainty.

Birthday cake to celebrate 400 years of Rio, in 1965, in Maracanãzinho — Photo: Archive/Agência O GLOBO

On that occasion, the then governor Carlos Lacerda was responsible for blowing out the candles on the cake, and that event consolidated that March 1, 1565 — the date of the Portuguese landing in Urca, to expel French troops — began to be considered the day of the “birth” of the city.

City Hall launches “Rio de Janeiro City Album”; See historical images

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Praça José de Alencar, formerly Largo do Catete and, in the background, Pão de Açúcar — Photo: Georges Leuzinger 2 of 13
Central do Brasil, in the center of Rio, when it was still spelled with “z” — Photo: Divulgação Skip X of 13
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Avenida Atlântica, in Copacabana, South Zone of Rio — Photo: Disclosure 4 of 13
Students in uniform together in Glória, while a cable car passes to Largo dos Leões — Photo: Divulgação/AGCRJ Skip
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Pedra da Gávea, in the South Zone of Rio — Photo: Disclosure 6 of 13
Rua Farani, in Botafogo — Photo: Divulgação Pular X de 13
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Cable cars passed through the arches and streets of Lapa — Photo: Disclosure/AGCRJ 8 of 13
Administration pavilion and federal district, now home to the Image and Sound museum, during Expo 22 — Photo: Divulgação/AGCRJ Skip
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Women walk arm in arm on Avenida Rio Branco, downtown Rio — Photo: Disclosure 10 of 13
Praça Onze, in Cidade Nova — Photo: Divulgação/AGCRJ Skip
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Avenida Atlântica still bucolic, at the beginning of the 20th century, with the jacket as part of the clothing, instead of bathing suits, — Photo: Augusto Malta / AGCRJ 12 of 13
Avenida Niermeyer, in the South Zone of Rio — Photo: Divulgação/AGCRJ Skip
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Palácio Tiradentes, in the center of Rio, where the Rio de Janeiro State Assembly (Alerj) is located — Photo: Divulgação/AGCRJ

Celebration of São Paulo’s 400th anniversary sparked doubts about when to celebrate the date in Rio

Rio de Janeiro is what the Portuguese navigators called Guanabara Bay when they arrived here for the first time, on January 1st, 1502. But the guys didn’t pay much attention to the place and only returned definitively to these parts on March 1st. 1565, with the mission of expelling a foreign colony from Rio de Janeiro: Antarctic France.

The disembarkation, between Pão de Açúcar and Morro Cara de Cão, was recorded by Father José de Anchieta in a letter. “They began to clear the land with great fervor and cut wood for the fence, not caring about the Tamoios or the French”, wrote the Jesuit. It was when the new settlement was named São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro, in honor of the king of Portugal at the time — the legendary Dom Sebastião (1554-1578).

However, Anchieta’s letter, the only official record of the event, only came to general knowledge in the 1920s. During the interval of four centuries, that January 20, 1567, when Estácio de Sá’s troops subjugated the French, remained in force, at the time allied with the Tamoios indigenous people.

In the 1920s, the “discovery” of Anchieta’s letters raised the discussion about the founding of Rio. But an external factor was still needed. In 1954, São Paulo celebrated 400 years. And then the question came: when would Rio be four hundred? Considering the disembarkation, it would be 1965. Considering the victory over the French, it would be 1967. A commission opted for the disembarkation, a decision ratified by Carlos Lacerda, who saw the IV Centenary of Rio as a showcase for a possible candidacy for the Presidency.