on the 23rd of april each year, rio celebrates the saints day of são jorge.   in a notable example of the cross-pollination of european and african traditions and beliefs in brazil, são jorge is venerated in umbanda and candomblé as the god of metals, ogum. 

in rio, the saints day is celebrated with special services at churches, street processions with participants numbering in the hundreds of thousands, and theatrical reenactments of the slaying of a dragon, são jorge's most famous act.