Saint Sebastian Day (Rio de Janeiro)
20 January 2026 — A small candle over the bay – a bright day for Rio and its patron.
On 20 January the people of Rio de Janeiro celebrate Saint Sebastian, the patron of their city. Rio was founded in 1565 by the Portuguese Estácio de Sá and named São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro, honouring the saint and also the then Portuguese king, Sebastian I. According to Christian tradition, Sebastian was a Roman soldier and martyr of the 3rd century. In Rio, 20 January is a local public holiday. Believers gather for Mass at the Cathedral of Saint Sebastian and at the Capuchin church, and in some places there are processions. The day is part of the city's rich religious tradition and falls in the middle of the southern-hemisphere summer, since the date is fixed in the solar calendar. The nights over the bay are warm, and between summer storms the sky often clears, and Orion, Sirius in Canis Major and Canopus in Carina shine high above the city. In honour of the feast, a symbol, a lit candle, crosses the Astronativa sky.
Flying across the sky: An ethereal, bluish-silver star figure made of luminous dots and thin lines, forming a single candle with a gentle flame that drifts across the sky like a constellation
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