BBMAG | Public Holidays – Brazil vs United Kingdom

Is there any difference between the Public Holidays in Brazil and the UK? Which country has the most? Here are the answers!

Brazilians rejoice! There are more Public Holidays in Brazil than in the UK. So far in 2016, they have already enjoyed six, with another five to come in the second half of the year. What’s more, this is not taking into account the regional holidays, such as city anniversaries, or patron saint commemorations. The high number of Public Holidays in Brazil is due to its myriad religious dates, such as the Our Lady of Aparecida holiday, on 12 October. Another Brazilian perk is that Public Holidays tend to be stretched out – so if the official date falls on a Tuesday, the Monday often gets thrown into the bargain, giving Brazilian workers a four-day-weekend. Not bad, eh?

Over in Elizabeth’s realm, however, things are a little different. There are six Public Holidays – including Christmas Day, New Year’s Day, Easter, and International Workers’ Day. There are two more Public Holidays in Northern Ireland than in England, and one extra in Scotland. Another difference from Brazil is that UK Public Holidays, with the exception of Easter, which always starts on a Friday, are quite flexible, to the extent that if one happens to fall on a Saturday or Sunday, it is simply moved to the upcoming Monday. The net result of this is that the majority of the UK’s Public Holidays end up being Mondays.

Here is a list of each country’s Public Holidays in 2016:

Brazil

01 January: New Year’s Day

09 February: Carnival

25 and 27 March: Good Friday and Easter Sunday

21 April: Tiradentes (Unique to Brazil)

01 May: International Workers’ Day

26 May: Corpus Christi

07 September: Brazilian Independence Day

12 October: Our Lady of Aparecida

02 November: All Souls’ Day

15 November: Proclamation of the Republic