The day of Xangô in the week is Wednesday. In the year, houses use June 24, June 29 and September 30. Each house chooses its own. In 2027, June 29 falls on a Tuesday.
What is the day of Xangô in the week and in the year
Week: Wednesday | June: 24 (Saint John) and 29 (Airá na Casa Branca) | São Paulo: third Sunday of June, by law | September: 30 (Saint Jerome) | Greeting: Kaô Kabecilê
| Where | Day of Xangô | What is it |
|---|---|---|
| Candomblé ketu and umbanda | Wednesday | house custom |
| A house of batuque (RS) | Tuesday | house custom |
| Casa Branca (Salvador) | June 29, Xangô Airá | terreiro festival |
| Umbanda (FUCESP, Santuário) | September 30, June 24 or 29 | house custom |
| City of São Paulo | third Sunday of June | 2017 law, no holiday |
| Recife | June 30 | 2022 project, withdrawn |
| Porto Alegre | September 30 | 2023 project, no vote |
The date changes with the house. To know who is Xangô, the orixá (orisha) of justice and thunder, start with the pillar.
Wednesday, the day of Xangô in the week
Wednesday is the day of Xangô in Candomblé ketu and in the Umbanda houses cited here. In the table by Reginaldo Prandi, from USP, for the terreiros of queto rite, the day of Xangô is Wednesday. Pierre Verger records the same in Bahia: "Wednesday is the day of the week consecrated to him."
In Umbanda, the Tenda de Umbanda Caboclo Tupinambá e Vó Catarina (TUCTVC) gives the fourth. The Santuário Nacional da Umbanda also does. How the Xangô line works in the gira is in Xangô in umbanda.
In the gaúcho batuque, one house breaks the rule. Ilé Àsé Odé and Iemanjá (Yemoja) give Xangô the "Day of the week: Tuesday". It is one house, not the entire batuque. See Xangô in batuque and the days of the week of the orixás.
June: São João, Airá and the Xangô bonfire
June concentrates most of Xangô's dates. FUCESP, the São Paulo federation, gives June 24 and 29, as well as September 30.
June 24, São João
In Belém, terreiros celebrate Xangô on São João's day, the newspaper O Liberal recorded in 2023. The saint marks the date, and the orixá continues to be Xangô. In Recife, the programming for June 28, 2025, planned the "80 years of Xangô's Amalá", of the nagô tradition, with the São João Procession. Why the saint entered the calendar is in june saints and orixás.
June 29, Xangô Airá at Casa Branca
At Casa Branca do Engenho Velho, in Salvador, June 29 is a festival day. Researchers Lisa Earl Castillo and Luis Nicolau Parés write that the house celebrates "Xangô Airá" on that day. Correio Nagô recorded the phrase of those who go to the party: "I have to go in White".
For Prandi and Vallado, Airá is usually seen as a white Xangô. In June, most terreiros hold the "Airá bonfire". See Ayrá orixá and the day of São Pedro.
In Rio, the Quilombo Urbano Mineiro Pau, in Santa Cruz, has lit the Xangô Bonfire on June 29 for more than 150 years, according to Agência Brasil.
September 30, São Jerônimo
September 30 is the day of Saint Jerome. The TUCTVC gives September 30 as a "Date of worship". The Sanctuary says that the tributes happen "on September 30, the day of the death of Saint Jerome".
The date is old. In 1933, Leal de Souza wrote that the fourth line of Umbanda is that of Xangô, which corresponds to Saint Jerome.
In the South, the City Hall of Capão do Leão (RS) held on September 30, 2017, the "III Africanist Patron Festival of the Municipality" for Xangô. Why the saint became the date is in Saint Jerome and Xangô.
Is Xangô Day a holiday? The São Paulo law and the projects
We did not find a holiday for Xangô in Brazil. We found only one law, and it is for an events calendar.
São Paulo: Law 16.653 of 2017
Law 16.653, from May 2017, puts in the city's events calendar the "Third Sunday of June: Day of the Xangô Procession." The procession is from an Umbanda curimba school in Mooca. It started in 2005, and the 15th edition was on June 16, 2019.
Recife and Porto Alegre: projects
In Recife, a 2022 project wanted Xangô as "Guardian of the City" and Xangô Day on June 30. The author herself withdrew it in April 2023. The project was archived and did not become law.
In Porto Alegre, the project for "Xangô Amalá Day" on September 30 was opened in July 2023. The last processing is from October 2023. There was no vote.
Xangô Day in 2027 and what is done on that day
In 2027, June 24 falls on a Thursday and June 29 on a Tuesday. The third Sunday of June is June 20, and September 30 falls on a Thursday. The houses have not yet published the programming. The dates of all orixás are in the calendar of the site and in the calendar of the orixás.
On the day, those who belong to the house go to the party or the gira. Obrigação and fundamento stay with the pai or the mãe de santo.
- In Candomblé ketu, Xangô's food in Prandi's table is amalá, "okra cut into slices cooked in dendê with dried shrimp." How to prepare it is in amalá de Xangô.
- In Umbanda, the amalá of Terreiro Pai Maneco, in Curitiba, takes "7 brown candles and 7 white candles, black beer" and goes to the quarry.
The simplest gesture is a candle lit on Wednesday or on the day of the party. The TUCTVC gives brown, red, and white.
Tip: ask your house the color and the place before lighting. In Bahia, Verger saw "necklaces of red and white beads." In Pai Maneco's umbanda, the color is brown and white.
Those who cannot light a candle can firm up the virtual candle of Xangô. See also offering for Xangô, sung chant (ponto cantado) of Xangô and herbs of Xangô. To check the candle or the material that the house requested, Joia Mística Laroyê is available via WhatsApp. The orixá's profile is in Xangô.
Frequently asked questions
What is Xangô's day of the week?
Wednesday. It is the day that Reginaldo Prandi records in Candomblé ketu and Pierre Verger, in Bahia. In Umbanda, the TUCTVC and the Santuário Nacional da Umbanda also give Wednesday. In a batuque house in Rio Grande do Sul, the Ilé Àsé Odé and Iemanjá, the day is Tuesday.
Is Xangô's day June 29 or September 30?
Both, in different houses. In Casa Branca, in Salvador, June 29 is the party of Xangô Airá. In Umbanda, the TUCTVC uses September 30, and the FUCESP and the Santuário give both dates and June 24. In the South, the City Hall of Capão do Leão celebrated Xangô on September 30.
Is Xangô's day a holiday?
No. The city of São Paulo placed the third Sunday of June, Day of the Xangô Procession, on the calendar of events by Law 16.653 of 2017, without a holiday. Recife's project for June 30 was withdrawn in 2023, and Porto Alegre's for September 30 remains without a vote.
References
- Prandi, Horizontes Antropológicos (UFRGS, 1995): Deuses africanos no Brasil contemporâneo
- Pierre Verger: Orixás, Corrupio, 1981
- Prandi and Vallado (USP, 2010): Xangô, king of Oió
- Castillo e Parés, Religion & Society (2015): José Pedro Autran and the return of Xangô
- Leal de Souza (1933): Spiritism, magic and the seven lines of Umbanda
- São Paulo City Council: Law 16.653 of 2017
- Recife City Council: Ordinary Bill 8 of 2022
- Porto Alegre City Council: PLL 411 of 2023
- Capão do Leão City Hall: III Xangô Festival (2017)
- TUCTVC: Xangô
- National Sanctuary of Umbanda: Xangô
- FUCESP: Xangô
- Terreiro de Umbanda Pai Maneco: Xangô
- Ilé Àsé Odé e Iemanjá: Orixás
- Correio Nagô (2015): Ayrá, the white mantle of justice
- O Liberal (2023): Saint John celebrated as Xangô in Belém
- Diario de Pernambuco (2025): 80 years of the Amalá de Xangô in Recife
- Brasil de Fato (2026): Fogueira de Xangô of the Quilombo Mineiro Pau
