São Silvestre 2026 Runs on Avenida Paulista 31 Dec

EXPATS & NOMADS · SÃO PAULO

The São Silvestre, Brazil’s oldest and best-known street race, holds its 101st edition on Avenida Paulista on the morning of New Year’s Eve. General entries opened on Wednesday 30 September, after a two-day presale for CAIXA Visa cardholders, and are going fast.

If you want to run the São Silvestre São Paulo 2026, the race that closes the global running calendar every 31 December, the window is open now. The organisers have set 55,000 places for the 101st edition, priced from R$335.90 (about US$64) at the 2 October rate, and the official rules say registration closes on 27 November or earlier if the field fills.

For a US runner the arithmetic is simple. The entry is cheaper than most big American road races, the course is a fixed 15 km through the centre of Latin America’s largest city, and the finish line sits a short walk from the hotels of the Paulista district. The hard parts are speed at the checkout, an account form that asks for a Brazilian CPF tax number, a visa that has to be in hand before you board, and a kit pickup that ends the day before the race.

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What the São Silvestre Is and Why It Matters

The Corrida Internacional de São Silvestre was created by the journalist Cásper Líbero and is still owned by the foundation that carries his name, the Fundação Cásper Líbero. The technical organiser is Vega Sports. The race reached its 100th edition last year, which makes 2026 what the organisers call “the first of the next hundred years”.

It is a mass event and an elite race at the same time. Invited professionals, many of them from East Africa, line up at the front of separate women’s and men’s starts, followed by a field of tens of thousands of amateurs who run the same streets in waves. For many Brazilians it is the last thing they do in the year, with costumes, family on the barriers and a party mood along the route.

Demand has become the main story. When entries for the 2025 centenary opened, the platform buckled under a virtual queue estimated at more than 100,000 people and the places sold out in under six hours, according to the running site Corrida360. This year the organisers moved to a new system with a free pre-registration step. Even so, the regional paper A Crítica reported that 10,000 entries were taken in the first 30 minutes on 30 September, with more than 3,000 people waiting in the online queue. As of Monday 5 October the official site still showed registration as open.

There is no lottery this year. The radio station CBN reported that the organisers dropped the draw used in 2025 and kept the field at the record 55,000 set for the centenary, so entry is first come, first served.

How to Enter From the United States

All entries go through the official site, saosilvestre.com.br, which sends you to the Ticket Sports by Ingresse platform to pay. The rules say a Ticket Sports account does not migrate automatically, so you need an Ingresse account as well. Payment is by credit card or PIX, the Brazilian instant-payment system, for individual entries. Each person can register up to three runners, and every runner needs their own valid email address.

There are three kits, and the price you pay depends on the batch on sale when your payment clears:

• Basic kit, R$335.90 (about US$64): timing-chip bib, race T-shirt, drawstring bag and a finisher medal.
• Intermediate kit, R$459.90 (about US$88): the same plus a finisher T-shirt.
• Premium kit, R$1,039.90 (about US$199): adds a windbreaker, cap, shoe bag and sandals, a separate premium start and extra services at the expo and the race arena.

Runners aged 60 or over get 50 percent off the basic kit, which brings it to R$167.95 (about US$32) at current prices. You must be 18 by 31 December 2026; the Brazilian athletics confederation does not allow younger runners over 15 km, and the organisers say there are no exceptions.

Choose your pace carefully, because it cannot be changed after payment. The pace sets your start wave. As a guide, the organisers publish last year’s bands: blue for runners finishing in under 1 hour 23 minutes, green up to 1 hour 38 minutes and red up to 2 hours 20 minutes. The T-shirt size is also fixed at checkout.

Brazilian consumer law gives you seven calendar days after purchase to cancel for a full refund, by email to the ticketing platform. After that there are no refunds. An entry can be transferred to another runner up to 40 days before the race, which puts the cut-off at around 21 November, and only with the same kit, pace and shirt size. Selling or lending a bib is banned under the rules.

The rules also allow credentialed tour operators a separate, limited batch of entries sold only as part of travel packages. CBN reported that clubs, groups and travel agencies can register from Wednesday 7 October; the official site says group bookings need at least 30 runners, a Brazilian company registration (CNPJ) and payment by PIX. For a foreign runner who misses the general sale, an authorised package is the legitimate route; bibs offered on social media are not.

The Course and How to Get There

The race starts on Avenida Paulista between Rua Frei Caneca and Rua Augusta and drops off the ridge towards the old centre. Water stations on the official route map give the shape of the run: Avenida Pacaembu at about 3 km, Avenida Rudge at 5.8 km, Avenida Ipiranga at 8 km, Praça da República at 10.4 km and Avenida Brigadeiro at 13 km, before the finish at Avenida Paulista 900. That last stretch is a long climb back up to Paulista, and it is the part of the course every São Silvestre runner talks about.

Toilets are set up at the start, at about 7 km and at the finish, and medical teams cover the whole route. The organisers ask runners to be in their start area at least 45 minutes before their wave; anyone who sets off after their official start time can be disqualified.

The easiest way in is the Metro. Line 2 (Green) runs under Avenida Paulista with stations at Consolação, Trianon-Masp and Brigadeiro, all within walking distance of the start and finish. Roads in the area close for the race, so a taxi or ride-hail will drop you some distance away. If you can, book a hotel in the Paulista, Jardins or Consolação districts and walk.

Kit pickup is not optional. Bibs and timing chips are handed out only at the Expo São Silvestre, in the Bienal pavilion (Pavilhão Ciccillo Matarazzo) in Ibirapuera Park, from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. on 26, 27, 28 and 29 December and from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on 30 December. Take your passport and the registration receipt from your email. Without a kit you cannot enter the race arena, and nothing is posted afterwards. A friend can collect for you with their own original ID and a copy of yours, which can be a photo on a phone.

Tips for US and Foreign Visitors

Visa first. Brazil has required visas from US citizens since 10 April 2025, according to the US Embassy in Brazil, and the State Department lists a tourist visa as required for entry. US citizens travelling for tourism or business can apply for an electronic visit visa only through the VFS Global portal, according to Brazil’s foreign ministry. The fee is US$80.90, the e-visa allows stays of up to 90 days and is valid for up to five years, and the ministry says to obtain it before buying flights. Apply weeks ahead; there is no express service.

Time zone and heat. São Paulo is three hours behind UTC, two hours ahead of New York in December. The race falls at the height of the southern summer, and the course has little shade once it leaves Paulista. Train for heat, drink at every station and do not race the downhill opening.

Safety. The State Department rates Brazil at Level 2, “exercise increased caution”, because of crime and kidnapping. Its advice applies on race morning: carry a cheap phone or none, leave jewellery at the hotel, keep cards in a zipped pocket and arrange where to meet friends before you start, because mobile networks clog near the finish.

Costs. Beyond the entry, budget for the visa, flights and peak-season hotel rates, since São Paulo fills up around New Year’s Eve. Metro fares are low, and most restaurants and shops take US cards. Read our What to Do in São Paulo in November 2026 if you are arriving earlier, and our São Paulo Grand Prix 2026 Visitor Guide for Interlagos for the city’s other big sporting weekend.

Fast runners. The Elite A and Elite B starts are not open to visitors on request. They require times from sanctioned races in the past 12 months, such as 31 minutes for 10 km for Elite A men or 37 minutes 30 seconds for Elite A women, and curricula must reach the organisers by 7 December. Foreign athletes must also appear on the Brazilian athletics confederation’s list of foreign athletes, which is handled through their national federation.

What Is Not Confirmed Yet

The organisers have not said how long the current price batch will last or what the next one will cost. The final course map and the exact wave times for the general field are still to be published, and the rules say both will be sent by email before race day. The pace bands quoted above are last year’s, published as a reference only.

The organisers have not said whether foreign runners without a Brazilian CPF tax number can register. The rules count entries per CPF, and the running site Correr Brasil reported that the new Ticket Sports account form asks for a CPF and validates it automatically. If you do not have one, ask Ticket Sports by Ingresse before you try to buy, or use an authorised tour package. The elite field has not been announced, and neither has the city’s 2026 New Year’s Eve programme on Avenida Paulista, which usually follows the race later the same day. The organisers state that all information can change up to race day.

Frequently Asked Questions

When is the São Silvestre 2026 and what time does it start?

The 101st São Silvestre is on Thursday 31 December 2026 on Avenida Paulista in São Paulo. Elite women start at 7:40 a.m., elite men at 8:05 a.m. and the general field from 8:08 a.m. local time, in waves by pace.

How much does it cost to enter the São Silvestre 2026?

The basic kit costs R$335.90 (about US$64), the intermediate kit R$459.90 (about US$88) and the premium kit R$1,039.90 (about US$199). Runners aged 60 and over pay half on the basic kit. Prices can change between batches.

Can a US citizen run the São Silvestre?

Probably, but one point is open. Entries go through saosilvestre.com.br, runners must be 18 or older by race day and US citizens need a Brazilian visa, available online as an e-visa. The organisers have not said whether runners without a Brazilian CPF tax number can register, so check with Ticket Sports by Ingresse first.

Sources: São Silvestre official site; São Silvestre official rules; A Crítica; CBN; Corrida360; Corrida no Ar; Correr Brasil; US Embassy in Brazil; US State Department, Brazil; Brazil Ministry of Foreign Affairs, e-visa.

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