Good Friday in 🇧🇷 Brazil

Good Friday, or Sexta-Feira Santa, is a national holiday in Brazil observed with a mix of solemn Catholic tradition and cultural spectacle. Processions wind through the streets of colonial towns across the country, with participants carrying statues of Christ and the Virgin Mary accompanied by mournful hymns and the sound of matracas, wooden clappers used in place of bells.

In the historic cities of Minas Gerais, particularly Ouro Preto, Mariana, and Sao Joao del Rei, the streets are covered with magnificent tapetes, carpets made from colored sawdust, flower petals, coffee grounds, and sand arranged in intricate religious patterns. Residents spend the night before Good Friday creating these ephemeral artworks that the procession then walks over.

The traditional Good Friday meal centers on bacalhau, salt cod imported from Portugal and Norway, prepared in dozens of regional variations. Bacalhoada, a hearty stew of salt cod with potatoes, onions, and olives, is the most common. Families also eat fish stew, shrimp moqueca, and other seafood dishes.

In Nova Jerusalem, Pernambuco, the world's largest open-air Passion Play takes place in a purpose-built walled city one-third the size of the historical Jerusalem, with over five hundred actors performing to audiences of tens of thousands across multiple stages.

Christian observance commemorating the crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ, marked by solemn church services, fasting, the Stations of the Cross, and processions, observed two days before Easter Sunday.