Apart from an excellent and internationally famous hotel chain, Pernambuco also has sunny beaches throughout the year and a very hospitable population. The state also has an intense tourist calendar with various options for the amusement of its population and visitors.

In January, the new year is celebrated at Boa Viagem beach with fireworks and frevo orchestra presentations. The first beats of carnival start to sound on the streets and in clubs. Still in January there are religious celebrations such as Santos Reis, in Carpina and Bom Jesus dos Passos, in Itamaracá.

Next comes Carnival one of the country’s most important folkloric manifestations, since Pernambuco is home to all kinds of Carnival. The celebration has all the color of the maracatus, the playfulness of the street reveler, the lyricism of the blocks, the energy of the trios elétricos, the cadency of samba schools and the contagious rhythm of the mangue beat. The blocks are a special attraction: the Virgens do Bairro Novo parade, in Olinda – where grown men reveal their feminine side, playfully and with humor, dressing up as women, a prerequisite to take part in the event; in Recife, the Galo da Madrugada takes over the city streets – it is in the Guinness Book as the planet’s largest mask club, and it’s a celebration of King Momo gathering more than one million participants. The party also spreads to the beaches and to the countryside. It is worth taking a trip to Bezerros to meet the papangus, hundreds of people in masks and costumes celebrating the Sunday of Carnival without being recognized.

The main attraction of Holy Week is Pernambuco Passion Project – religious events bringing together a wide variety of manifestations during the months of March and April. Popular participation is intense in the dozens of rituals taking place during Lent. And thanks to the proximity of the towns where the events take place, one can easily go, for example, from a procession in Olinda to a celebration of Passion in Recife. Another attraction that cannot be missed is “A Paixão de Cristo de Nova Jerusalém”, at Brejo da Madre de Deus. It is the world’s largest outdoors theater where hundreds of believers relive, year after year, the last days of Jesus Christ. The spectacle re-enacts, as closely as possible, the birth, death and resurrection of the Messiah. It is a spectacle with special lighting and sound effects that touches everyone in the crowd, even the most eclectic spectators in terms of beliefs and religion.

During the month of June the sound of the accordions, triangles and bass drums echoes throughout the state. They are the June parties invading Pernambuco with lots of forró. xote, xaxado, baião, square dance and other regional dances. One can enjoy delicious recipes made of corn and admire gigantic bonfires made in honor of Santo Antônio, São Pedro and São João. Caruaru county alone has 40 days of nonstop forró, involving not only the local inhabitants but tourists from all over Brazil who “arrastam o pé” (drag their feet) in the hundreds of palhoções all over town.

The cowboy Mass takes place in July in Serrita county. It is a tribute, celebrated outdoors under the sun of the Sertão, to the cowboy Raimundo Jacó who was murdered in the Caatinga of Pernambuco in 1954. For 23 years the mass has taken place close to where the cowboy was found dead. The mass is different form the traditional ones because it uses a language from the Sertão to pass on the biblical message and even communion is given with pieces of rapadura, manioc flower and sun meat (carne de sol). Still in July there is the Circuito do Frio, a cultural project that warms up the low temperatures of the mountain top cities of Garanhus (235 km from the capital), Triunfo (449 Km from Recife) Gravatá (93 km) and Taquaritinga do Norte, with lots of cultural, artistic and sports attractions during winter.

In Pernambuco, the opening of Summer begins in September. The happiest season of the year is announced at Boa Viagem beach, with concerts of nationally famous artists and sports exhibitions. Next, come Chirstmas and New Year’s Eve, Pernambuco has everything that goes on in the other States and more. Recife decorates its streets and rivers with hundreds of Christmas trees and thousands of lamps. The malls also have Christmas decorations and Nativity Scenes are set all over the Metropolitan Area. Apart from the conventional celebration the tradition of Pernambuco says that the pastorals must be presented in December. It is a representation of the adoration of baby Jesus by the shepherds of Bethlehem, where, divided into groups – blue and flesh-colored -, the girls compete for the title of prettiest group and best presentation.

December is the month to celebrate not only Jesus but also Iemanjá (the queen of the ocean, according to Umbanda) who is celebrated twice. Thorugh the syncretism with Our Lady of Conceição, she is celebrated on December 8th, receiving offerings, flowers and gifts that are thrown to the ocean in any beach of the coast, especially those of Rio Doce (Olinda) and Piedade (Jaboatão dos Guararapes).