🎉 The business of Carnival

The four-day holiday is expected to take over the streets of Brazil with music and color — and generate a decade-high BRL 12 billion in tourism revenue

Author

Letícia Arcoverde
February 26, 2025 • Reading Time: 3 minutes

Hello! Welcome to Brazil Business. This week, there’s no escaping Carnival — which officially begins in a few days. Besides all the fun, the celebration is also a time for many businesses to make hay. 

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Carnival is good business for Brazil

The samba school parade in Rio de Janeiro is the most iconic spectacle of Carnival — but it’s only part of the story. Photo: Celso Pupo/Shutterstock.

The samba school parade in Rio de Janeiro is the most iconic spectacle of Carnival — but it’s only part of the story. Photo: Celso Pupo/Shutterstock.

Brazil is gearing up for its most dazzling spectacle: Carnival. Taking place over the first weekend of March, this four-day extravaganza is not just a cultural cornerstone — it is an economic juggernaut, driving billions into the country’s tourism and leisure industries.

Revenue from Carnival 2025 is projected to reach BRL 12 billion (USD 2 billion), according to the National Confederation of Commerce (CNC), which annually tracks the festival’s impact on tourism, transportation, food, leisure and more. If that forecast holds, it would mark a 2% increase from 2024, when revenue hit BRL 11.7 billion — which was already the highest figure in a decade.

But the Carnival boom is not fueled only by those dancing in the streets. Plenty of tourists use the long weekend as a getaway from the festivities, escaping the revelry (and occasional chaos) that takes over Brazil’s major cities.

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