in brazil, it has been celebrated since the mid-1920s, and today it is celebrated together with the feast of our lady of aparecida (nossa senhora da conceição aparecida), the patron saint of  brazil.

nowadays it is highly commercial and second only to christmas in the amount of spending on toys and other children's items.

in rio de janeiro many still look at it as being the day to remember to be a child, and the date is well known by all cariocas.