Brazil Sets 2026 Federal Holidays and Ponto Facultativo Rules

Overview

• The Ministry of Management and Innovation published the order in the Official Gazette on December 30 establishing the 2026 schedule for the federal administration.
• Federal bodies must follow the dates without interrupting essential public services.
• The calendar sets ten national holidays and nine discretionary days, including Carnival (Feb 16–18), Good Friday (Apr 3), Corpus Christi (Jun 4–5), and partial days on Dec 24 and Dec 31.
• Agencies are barred from anticipating discretionary days or adopting state or municipal ones, with exceptions for a state's legally defined date magna and municipal centenary start or end days.
• Only one national holiday falls on a weekend in 2026 (Nov 15), with several on Mondays or Fridays that enable more long weekends; some states add local observances such as Bahia’s 2 de Julho and Salvador’s 8 de Dezembro.