What's on in Fortaleza, Brazil through the year

Peak crowds — Pré-Carnaval, Réveillon

• Festival

  Pré-Carnaval

  10 Jan – 1 Mar · usuallyCarnivalCrowded

  Fortaleza's own party happens before Carnival: weekends of free blocos and stages at Benfica, Praça dos Leões and the Mercado dos Pinhões. Carnival week itself the city empties towards the beaches. Source ↗

Still on: Réveillon (28 Dec – 2 Jan)

Peak crowds — Pré-Carnaval, Summer holidays in Brazil

Nothing new starts in February.

Still on: Pré-Carnaval (10 Jan – 1 Mar (usually))

Busy — Pré-Carnaval, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

• Holiday

  Semana Santa long weekend

  3–5 AprEaster & Holy WeekCrowdedBook early

  Good Friday is a national holiday and the Easter weekend is one of the year's busiest for domestic travel: roads and bus stations jam, beach towns and country retreats fill with Brazilian families, and prices rise. Many shops close on Good Friday. Source ↗

Still on: Pré-Carnaval (10 Jan – 1 Mar (usually))

Busy — Semana Santa long weekend

Nothing new starts in April.

Still on: Semana Santa long weekend (3–5 Apr)

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in May.

Shoulder season — school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in June.

Peak crowds — Festival Halleluya, Fortal

• Season

  Wind season on the Ceará coast

  1 Jul – 31 Dec · usually

  The trade winds settle in for the second half of the year and turn the beaches either side of the city into one of the more reliable kite spots anywhere. On the sand in town it means blown grit and short umbrellas.

• Festival

  Festival Halleluya

  15–31 Jul · usuallyMusic festivalCrowdedBook early

  A Catholic music festival run by the Shalom community over five nights in late July, one of the largest of its kind anywhere. Its crowd arrives in the same weeks as Fortal and the school holidays. Source ↗

• Festival

  Fortal

  18 Jul – 3 Aug · usuallyCarnivalCrowdedBook early

  An out-of-season carnival in the last week of July: trios elétricos on a closed circuit, ticketed blocos, and a city full for four nights. It is a paying, fenced event rather than a street party. Source ↗

Busy — Fortal

Nothing new starts in August.

Still on: Wind season on the Ceará coast (1 Jul – 31 Dec (usually)), Fortal (18 Jul – 3 Aug (usually))

Busy — school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it, one of its best months for weather

Nothing new starts in September.

Still on: Wind season on the Ceará coast (1 Jul – 31 Dec (usually))

Busy — one of its best months for weather

Nothing new starts in October.

Still on: Wind season on the Ceará coast (1 Jul – 31 Dec (usually))

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in November.

Still on: Wind season on the Ceará coast (1 Jul – 31 Dec (usually))

Peak crowds — Réveillon, Summer holidays in Brazil

• Festival

  Réveillon

  28 Dec – 2 JanChristmas & New YearCrowdedBook early

  The city puts its New Year on the Aterrinho and the Praia de Iracema seafront, free and enormous, with hundreds of thousands on the sand. Hotels along the beach front price the night on its own. Source ↗

Still on: Wind season on the Ceará coast (1 Jul – 31 Dec (usually))