Posted on June 12, 2016
If I told you that “Dia dos Namorados” in Portuguese for “Lovers' Day,” would you have a guess about where this holiday is celebrated?
Not in Portugal, actually. Today is Saint Anthony (of Padua)'s Day Eve in Portugal, a religious holiday before tomorrow's religious holiday (Saint Anthony's Day itself).
No, Dia dos Namorados is celebrated today in Brazil!

In other words, today is the Brazilian equivalent of Valentine's Day!
Interestingly enough, many Portuguese-speaking nations in Africa use the term “Dia dos Namorados” for February 14 (Valentine's Day). But that is about the time that Brazil is having huge street parties, night after night, in their famous Carnival...so it's no wonder that they don't want to clutter the calendar with another sort of holiday.
I think it's very sweet that Brazil's “Lovers' Day” is the same day as
Loving Day in the United States!
Learn more about Brazil in these earlier posts.
Also on this date:

Heidi author Johanna Spyri's birthday

Loving Day

Independence Day in the Philippines

Plan ahead:
Check out my Pinterest boards for:
- June holidays
- June birthdays
- Historical anniversaries in June
And here are my Pinterest boards for:
- July holidays
- July birthdays
- Historical anniversaries in July