The Saci

The Saci, or Saci-Pererê, is a figure of Brazilian folklore. Some details of his story come from a 1917 newspaper inquiry by Monteiro Lobato, and a town in São Paulo state now marks a Dia do Saci.

In 1917 the Estadinho opened an inquiry and called on everyone to take part. Its opening notice asked whether the subject was the future president of the Republic, then answered that it was the Sacy. The notice appears in Monteiro Lobato's book of the results, O Sacy-Pererê: resultado de um inquérito, published in 1918.

Wikipedia says some details of the Saci came out of Lobato's inquiry among newspaper readers in São Paulo and the surrounding region. These include his clay pipe and his power to raise a whirlwind and dance and spin inside it.

In 2003 a bill was put before Brazil's Chamber of Deputies to create a Dia do Saci on 31 October, with the stated aim of valuing national culture. In 2025 g1 Vale do Paraíba reported on a town in the interior of São Paulo state that marks the day. It has an association devoted to the Saci, street parades, traditional dishes and a bicycle ride pedalled with one leg. It also has saciólogos, Saci specialists, who work to keep this icon of Brazilian folklore from being forgotten.