Minas Gerais summer cultural festivals 2026

In July‑August 2026 Minas Gerais announced a dense programme of free public cultural events across the state. Highlights included a large banquet in Belo Horizonte celebrating traditional quitandas, a forest‑art workshop for children in Rio de Janeiro, the historic Festa dos Mineiros in Ouro Preto, museum programmes honouring Black women and offering children’s workshops, and the 30th‑anniversary knitwear fair in Belo Horizonte.

A week later, organisers added paid opportunities to the calendar. The Festival Grito in Divinópolis opened three remunerated stage slots for local artists, with two reserved for the Centro‑Oeste region and a third open to any Minas Gerais act. Simultaneously, the Feira Astral in Contagem announced subsidies for selected exhibitors, prioritising Black people, women, persons with disabilities and socially vulnerable groups, while providing accessibility services.

In late August the schedule expanded with two additional free festivals in Belo Horizonte. On 8 August the Museu da Moda hosted a six‑hour jazz festival featuring DJ sets by Leo Olivera and Fabiano Silva, performances by Gustavo Figueiredo & George Paiva, a trio with Daniel Christófaro, Laura Raízes and Sérgio Starling, and the Clara Nunes exhibition. On 22 August the Festival Mineiro da Cerveja offered more than 30 craft‑beer labels, food stalls, a pet‑friendly area and a main stage headlined by rock band Raimundos. These events continued the emphasis on free, community‑focused cultural offerings, complementing earlier festivals and the inclusion‑focused paid slots introduced earlier in the season.