Halloween celebrations in Brazil started in English schools, where it was an important celebration. The real push towards the popularization of the festivity was given by industry later. In the last week of October in Brazil, many stores are decorated with pumpkins and dark colors and adorned with Halloween products. Trying to oppose the American influence on Brazilian culture, deemed a distraction from its rich heritage, the NGO
Amigos do Saci established Saci Day. The initiative was strongly supported by artists, educators, politicians and a good portion of society, and was turned into an official date in
São Paulo state (Law nº 11.669, January 13th 2004), as well as other municipalities:
São Paulo,
São Luiz do Paraitinga,
São José do Rio Preto,
Guaratinguetá,
Embu das Artes and
Caçapava (São Paulo);
Vitória (
Espírito Santo);
Poços de Caldas (
Minas Gerais); and
Fortaleza (
Ceará). In
Uberaba, the city hall established the date in 2008. However, the date was revoked in 2017 after the creation of the Municipal Folklore Day, celebrated on August 22nd. In 2019, in
Cuiabá, a city councilor attempted to establish the date, but the project received so much criticism, mainly within the council and from the evangelical caucus, for instituting an "abstract" date ignoring the city's real problems, that the councilor gave up and removed it from the council's agenda. However, the holiday ended up not being popularized, precisely because it contrasted with Halloween, which was popular given the global influence of Western culture. == Saci ==