Salvador Summer Festival 2027 Sets 23 and 24 January

EXPATS & NOMADS · SALVADOR

The Festival de Verão Salvador 2027 fills the Arena Festival on Saturday 23 and Sunday 24 January with Maria Bethânia, Jão and Marina Sena. Tickets are on sale in Brazilian reais, and US visitors need an e-visa and a CPF number to complete the online checkout.

The Festival de Verão Salvador 2027 takes place on Saturday 23 and Sunday 24 January 2027 at the Arena Festival in Salvador, the capital of Bahia state in north-east Brazil. Maria Bethânia, Jão, Marina Sena and Timbalada with Olodum are among the names announced so far.

Presale for Banco do Brasil BB Visa cardholders opened on 15 October, and general sale starts on Tuesday 20 October at 12:00 Brasília time. For a US reader the two practical hurdles are the Brazilian e-visa, which costs US$80.90, and the CPF tax number that the online checkout requests.

What the Festival Is and Why It Matters

The Festival de Verão Salvador is a two-day music event that Bahia stages each January, in the gap between the New Year holiday and Carnival. Its 26th edition is the one now on sale, and the organisers are the companies Salvador Produções and Bahia Eventos.

The festival grew from the late 1990s into a fixture of Bahia’s summer calendar, with several stages and styles that range from rock and axé to pop. It was not held in 2019, 2021 or 2022, and the 2026 edition on 24 and 25 January was the 25th.

That edition was the first held at the festival’s own site, the Arena Festival at Wet Eventos, and the Saturday tickets sold out. The 2027 dates return to the same arena.

The 2026 sell-out suggests the first day may be the harder one to book, though no 2027 sales figures have been published. The artistic direction stays with Zé Ricardo, the curator who also shaped earlier line-ups.

Ivete Sangalo, the only artist who played all 25 previous editions, does not appear on the list published so far. One Sunday slot is still open.

Who Plays on Saturday 23 January

Maria Bethânia, one of the best-known voices of Brazilian popular music and a native of Bahia, is the Saturday name. She shares the day with Gilsons, a trio made up of the son and two grandsons of Gilberto Gil.

BaianaSystem, a Salvador band that mixes Bahian guitar with sound-system bass and protest lyrics, plays with the singer IZA as its guest. The dance group É o Tchan, which made Bahian pagode a national craze in the 1990s, is also on the bill.

Two special sets round out the day. One brings together Alceu Valença, Elba Ramalho and Geraldo Azevedo, three veterans of northeastern Brazilian music, and the other pairs the pagode singers Péricles and Ferrugem under the name As Vozes.

Who Plays on Sunday 24 January

Jão, a Brazilian pop singer, was confirmed on 15 October as one of the two names still missing for Sunday. Marina Sena, a pop singer from Minas Gerais, and João Gomes, a young forró star from Pernambuco, share the day with him.

Saulo, a long-time Salvador axé singer, and the percussion groups Timbalada and Olodum bring local sound to the finish. One more act for Sunday has been promised by the producers but has not been named.

Both line-ups come from the producers’ own announcements, which regional outlets published between 18 September and 15 October 2026. DGABC reported two Sunday acts as unnamed on 18 September, and Jão filled one of those places on 15 October.

Tickets and Prices in US Dollars

Tickets are sold online through Sympla, the Brazilian ticket platform, and in person at Ticket Maker counters in Shopping da Bahia, Shopping Paralela and Parque Shopping Bahia. Correio’s presale guide said the Sympla link would follow, and the Sympla page could not be read for this report, so the prices below come from the organiser’s price list as printed by regional press.

Banco do Brasil BB Visa cardholders have the presale from 15 October at 14:00 to 19 October at 23:59, with 40 percent off the standard Arena ticket and up to six instalments. General sale opens on Tuesday 20 October at 12:00 Brasília time, which is 11:00 in New York, with up to four instalments.

For a single day in the presale, the Arena ticket costs R$ 84 (about US$17) in the standard category and R$ 70 (about US$14) at half price. The Arena Solidária category costs R$ 90 (about US$18), and the BB Visa Camarote, the premium area, costs R$ 240 (about US$47).

A passport for both days costs R$ 152 (about US$30) for the standard Arena, R$ 126 (about US$25) at half price and R$ 162 (about US$32) for the Solidária category. The BB Visa Camarote passport costs R$ 432 (about US$85).

All dollar figures use the Central Bank of Brazil rate of 16 October 2026, which was R$ 5.0826 per US dollar. General-sale prices have not been published, and because the presale carries a 40 percent discount on the standard Arena ticket, the full price may be higher.

The Venue and Getting There

The Arena Festival stands on Avenida Luís Viana in the Paralela district of Salvador, inside the Wet Eventos complex. The 2026 edition used the same site, which the press described as the festival’s own ground for the first time.

For that edition the metro operator ran trains for 24 hours on both nights, with Tamburugy station as the official stop. Whether the same arrangement applies in 2027 has not been announced.

A ride-hailing app is the simplest fallback after the trains stop. Readers should check the metro operator’s notice closer to January before planning a late return.

What It Means for You

US citizens must hold a Brazilian visa for tourism, and the e-visa is the route. The Brazilian consulate in San Francisco, on a page updated on 12 December 2025, lists a fee of US$80.90, and the official e-visa portal shows the same amount on 17 October 2026.

The US State Department says the same: a visa is required for US citizens regardless of the purpose of travel, and the passport must be valid on the date of entry. It rates Brazil at Level 2, exercise increased caution because of crime and kidnapping, in an advisory dated 29 May 2025.

The bigger hurdle for buyers abroad is the CPF, the Brazilian taxpayer number. The online checkout asks every buyer for name, email, city and state, date of birth and CPF, and it allows four tickets per CPF.

It has not been stated whether Sympla accepts a passport number in place of a CPF. A visitor without one may need a Brazilian friend to buy, or may try the Ticket Maker counters, though nothing published says those counters accept foreign documents.

The US consular agency in Salvador is at Avenida Tancredo Neves 1632, Salvador Trade Center, Tower South, Room 1401. In January Salvador runs on Brasília time, which is two hours ahead of New York.

Anyone planning a longer stay can pair the weekend with other events in the city. The Rio Times has a Salvador city page and a monthly events guide for that purpose.

What Is Not Known

The doors time, the start time and the running order for each stage have not been published. The organiser’s service box, as printed by Correio, lists 15,000 people for the Arena and 10,000 for the Camarote, which was not independently confirmed.

The sixth Sunday act is unnamed, and general-sale prices, including the Camarote and Solidária conditions, have not been released. It is also unclear whether foreign passports are accepted at checkout and whether the 24-hour metro service returns.

Prices and dates here come from regional outlets and the press material they reproduce, because the festival’s own site and the Sympla page could not be read. We will not treat any price as final until the general sale opens on 20 October.

Frequently Asked Questions

When is the Festival de Verão Salvador 2027?

The festival runs on Saturday 23 and Sunday 24 January 2027 at the Arena Festival in Salvador, Bahia. The doors time and start time have not been published.

How much do tickets cost and where do I buy them?

In the Banco do Brasil BB Visa presale a single-day standard Arena ticket costs R$ 84 (about US$17), and a two-day Arena passport costs R$ 152 (about US$30). General sale opens on Tuesday 20 October at 12:00 Brasília time through Sympla and the Ticket Maker counters.

Do US citizens need a visa and a CPF to attend?

Yes, US citizens need a Brazilian e-visa, which costs US$80.90, to enter Brazil as tourists. The online ticket checkout asks for a CPF, and it has not been stated whether a passport number is accepted instead.

Sources: Correio, presale, prices and where to buy (15 Oct 2026); Bahia Notícias, line-up and organisers (15 Oct 2026); BNews, sale dates (15 Oct 2026); DGABC, 26th-edition line-up (18 Sep 2026); Correio, 2026 edition, arena and metro (22 Jan 2026); Billboard Brasil, festival history (23 Jan 2026); Central Bank of Brazil, PTAX rate (16 Oct 2026); Brazilian consulate in San Francisco, e-visa (updated 12 Dec 2025); Brazil e-visa application portal, fee page (opened 17 Oct 2026); US State Department, Brazil page (updated 20 Aug 2025, opened 17 Oct 2026).

This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief