Brazilian markets: feiras and mercados guide

Brazil’s great markets run from Belém’s Ver-o-Peso, founded in 1625, to Porto Alegre’s Mercado Público, opened on October 3, 1869. São Paulo’s Mercadão opens at 06:00 Monday to Saturday. This page covers six markets, with their history, hours and what to look for.

Why visit Brazil’s markets

A market is the fastest way into a Brazilian city. You see what people eat, how they cook and what grows in the region, all under one roof. Many markets also have bars and counters that serve some of the best cheap food in town.

Each market reflects its region. Ver-o-Peso is pure Amazon. São Joaquim is Afro-Bahian. The Mercado Central is Minas Gerais in a building. Caruaru is the Northeast’s great open fair. São Paulo and Porto Alegre show the immigrant cities of the south and southeast.

Getting there and when to go

Most markets sit in the old center of their city, near the port or the main commercial streets. Central areas are busy by day and empty at night, so arrive by app taxi or public transport in the morning. Ask your lodging about the safest route. For rides, see Uber and taxis in Brazil.

Markets open early. The Mercadão opens at 06:00, the Porto Alegre stalls at 07:30 and the Mercado Central in Belo Horizonte at 08:00. Go in the morning for the freshest produce and the most activity. Sundays and holidays have shorter hours, and some stalls close.

Feira or mercado

A mercado is a covered building with permanent stalls. A feira is a market of stalls, often open-air. The line is loose. The Feira de São Joaquim in Salvador is called a fair but works as a standing daily market. Most Brazilian cities also have weekly street feiras, set up on a fixed day in each neighborhood, where locals buy fruit and vegetables and eat pastel.

Belém: Ver-o-Peso

Ver-o-Peso was founded in 1625 at the old Porto do Pirí as a weighing post for goods and tax collection. Its name means “see the weight.” Today it is the largest open market in the Amazon, on the waterfront of Belém.

It sells Amazon fish, herbs, tropical fruit, dried shrimp, manioc starch and flour, tapioca, tucupi, dried pirarucu and fresh açaí. Look for maniva for maniçoba, brazil nuts, peppers, cupuaçu and tucumã. The herb stalls sell small bottles of oils and herbs sold as charms for love, luck and protection. In Pará, açaí is eaten unsweetened, with fish, shrimp or tapioca flour. Stalls offer sugar to tourists, so ask for it without.

The Ver-o-Peso architectural and landscape ensemble was listed as built heritage by Iphan in 1977. The complex runs around the Boulevard Castilhos França, the Praça do Relógio, the Doca, the Feira do Açaí and the Ladeira do Castelo. The iron fish market building, with its corner turrets, is the landmark.

Go at dawn to see boats unload açaí at the Feira do Açaí, then eat fried fish with açaí at the food stalls. Check before you go: stall hours vary by section, and many close by early afternoon. Ask your hotel or the Belém city tourism office the day before.

Food from the market is covered in Brazilian food by region.

Belo Horizonte: Mercado Central

The Mercado Central has more than 400 shops and about 1.3 million visitors a month. It sells cheeses, sweets, cachaça, spices, kitchenware and Minas crafts. Its bars serve fígado com jiló (liver with bitter jiló fruit) and cold beer, and on Saturdays they fill with locals.

The market dates its founding to September 7, 1929, when city hall gave local merchants a space on Avenida Augusto de Lima. It took its present form in the 1960s, when a cooperative of vendors built the current building. It celebrated its 97th anniversary in 2026.

The address is Av. Augusto de Lima 744, Centro. It opens Monday to Saturday from 08:00 to 18:00, and on Sundays and holidays from 08:00 to 13:00. Buy artisanal cheese here if you cannot reach the cheese regions, and ask for a taste first. For cachaça, see cachaça distilleries. For regional cooking, read comida mineira.

Caruaru, Pernambuco: Feira de Caruaru

The Feira de Caruaru is one of the largest open markets in the Northeast, and the town grew up around it. Iphan registered it in the Livro dos Lugares on December 20, 2006, and revalidated the registration on July 27, 2021. The Casa da Cultura José Condé, run by Caruaru’s municipal culture foundation, supports the fair’s cultural side.

The “grande feira” sits in the Parque 18 de Maio, in central Caruaru. It is a group of fairs in one: food, crafts, clay figures, leather goods, hammocks, herbs and household goods. The sulanca clothing fair runs in the early hours of Thursday, with about 12,000 stalls and 25,000 to 30,000 visitors a week. Look for the clay figurines in the tradition of Mestre Vitalino, from the nearby Alto do Moura district.

Check before you go: each section keeps its own days and hours. Ask the Caruaru city tourism office or your hotel which day suits the section you want. The Northeast hub is Northeast Brazil.

Salvador: Feira de São Joaquim

The Feira de São Joaquim sits on the shore of the Bay of All Saints and covers more than 30,000 square meters. It sells everything from fresh food to handicrafts, and about 8,000 people depend on it directly or indirectly. It is also the main source of Candomblé goods in the city, with stalls of herbs, beads, clay pots and ritual items.

The fair grew from the Grande Feira de Água de Meninos, nearby. After a fire in 1964 destroyed that fair, vendors rebuilt beside the original site and renamed it São Joaquim. Saveiro sailboats once brought produce here from the Recôncavo, and a few still dock.

The fair opens every day from 05:00 to 17:00. On Sundays, a free Samba da Feira plays at 10:00 on the nearby pier. Go in the morning, wear closed shoes and keep valuables out of sight. The lanes are crowded, wet and narrow. For the food, see Bahian food. Read is Brazil safe before you go.

São Paulo: Mercado Municipal

The Mercado Municipal Paulistano, known as the Mercadão, was inaugurated in 1933 at Rua da Cantareira 306, Centro. Its tall hall has large stained-glass windows showing farm scenes. It opens Monday to Saturday from 06:00 to 18:00, and on Sundays and holidays from 06:00 to 16:00. The phone is (11) 3313-3365.

The Mercadão is famous for its mortadella sandwich, piled high on bread, and for pastel de bacalhau (salt cod pastry). Downstairs, stalls sell cheeses, cured meats, spices and fruit. Upstairs, a mezzanine of restaurants looks over the hall.

Fruit sellers often offer free tastes of exotic fruit and then cut a large box at a high price. Ask the price per kilo before you accept a sample or say yes to a box.

The city also runs 11 neighborhood municipal markets, including Lapa (Rua Herbart 47), Pinheiros (Rua Pedro Cristi 89) and Penha (Av. Gabriela Mistral 160). Lapa draws 5,000 people a day. These are calmer and more local than the Mercadão.

Porto Alegre: Mercado Público

The Mercado Público opened on October 3, 1869, and the city calls it the oldest market in Brazil. It sits in the historic center, near the port and the main square. It sells meat, fish, spices, mate herb for chimarrão, sweets and local produce, with restaurants and bars on the upper floor.

Stalls open from 07:30 Monday to Saturday and close in the early evening. Restaurants stay open later on weekdays. On Sundays, opening is up to each bar and restaurant, and shops keep short hours.

Check before you go: hours change on holidays and during Holy Week. Check the Porto Alegre city government’s site or call the market before a Sunday or holiday visit.

Costs

Markets are among the cheapest places to eat in Brazil, and among the best for food souvenirs. Prices for snacks and bar food are usually lower than in restaurants nearby. Tourist-facing stalls, such as fruit and spice sellers in the Mercadão, charge more.

Prices in mercados are usually fixed and posted by the kilo. At open feiras, you can sometimes negotiate on crafts or when you buy in quantity, but do it politely. Carry small notes and coins. See Brazil travel budget and money in Brazil for how to pay.

Respect and safety

Vendors, fishers and the communities behind the produce are hosts. Ask before you photograph a person. Carry small notes for stall purchases. Markets are crowded. Keep your phone and wallet where you can feel them, and read scams in Brazil.

Skip it if

• You need fixed hours. Each market and section keeps its own schedule, and holidays change it.
• You want a quiet sit-down meal. Most market food is served at stalls, counters and busy bars.
• You dislike crowds. The Mercado Central draws more than 30,000 visitors a day on weekdays and roughly double that on weekends.
• You are squeamish about raw meat and fish. Butcher and fish sections are open and strong-smelling.