What's on in São Paulo, Brazil through the year

Peak crowds — travelers describe it as peak season, Summer holidays in Brazil

Nothing new starts in January.

Still on: Summer storms and flooding (1 Dec – 31 Mar (usually))

Peak crowds — Carnival, Summer holidays in Brazil

• Festival

  Carnival

  13–18 FebCrowdedClosures

  Sao Paulo's street carnival has grown into millions of people across hundreds of blocos, alongside the sambadrome parades at Anhembi. Half the city leaves and the other half is in the street. Source ↗

Still on: Summer storms and flooding (1 Dec – 31 Mar (usually))

Quiet — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, one of its worst months for weather

Nothing new starts in March.

Still on: Carnival (13–18 Feb), Summer storms and flooding (1 Dec – 31 Mar (usually))

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in April.

Busy — Virada Cultural

• Festival

  Virada Cultural

  23–24 MayMajor festivalCrowded

  Twenty-four hours of free music and theatre across the centre on a weekend in May, stages in the middle of avenues that are otherwise eight lanes of traffic. Source ↗

• Festival

  Parada do Orgulho LGBT+

  7 JunPrideCrowdedBook early

  The largest pride parade anywhere fills Avenida Paulista on a Sunday in June, usually the first. Hotels in Jardins and Consolacao go weeks ahead and the metro runs to a special plan. Source ↗

Busy — Parada do Orgulho LGBT+, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in June.

Still on: Parada do Orgulho LGBT+ (7 Jun)

Busy — July winter break in Brazil, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

• Nature

  Ipe trees in flower

  1 Jul – 30 Sep · usuallyWildflowers & blooms

  The pink ipes go first in the dry weeks of July, the yellow ones through August and September, and for a few days each street that has them is a single colour. Then it all drops at once.

Busy — one of its best months for weather

Nothing new starts in August.

Still on: Ipe trees in flower (1 Jul – 30 Sep (usually))

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

Nothing new starts in September.

Still on: Ipe trees in flower (1 Jul – 30 Sep (usually))

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

• Festival

  Sao Paulo Grand Prix

  6–8 NovMotorsport weekendCrowdedBook early

  Three days at Interlagos in the first half of November, with the southern suburbs closed off and hotel rates across the city at their yearly high. It is usually the loudest crowd on the calendar. Source ↗

Busy — Sao Paulo Grand Prix

Nothing new starts in November.

Still on: Sao Paulo Grand Prix (6–8 Nov)

Busy — Summer holidays in Brazil, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

• Season

  Summer storms and flooding

  1 Dec – 31 Mar · usuallyFlood season

  Late-afternoon storms most days through the southern summer, and the ones that stall put the Tiete and the marginais under water and the traffic at a standstill for hours.