More than 130 children and teenagers from the municipality of Macaíba participated, this Saturday (19), in the 2026 edition of the Loterias Caixa Paralympic Festival, an event promoted nationally by the Brazilian Paralympic Committee (CPB). The activity took place at the Manoel Gomes Polysportive Gymnasium, in the District of Cajazeiras, and had the support of the Santos Dumont Institute (ISD).
The Festival is held simultaneously in several municipalities to promote the experience of Paralympic sports in a recreational and inclusive way for children and young people, with or without disabilities.
In Macaíba, participants experienced the sports of sitting volleyball, athletics, and bocce. This year's edition invited students from public schools in the municipality.
“The main objective of the Festival is to spread the spirit of the Paralympic movement and show that people with and without disabilities can practice sports together,” summarized Fabíola Campos, supervisor of the ISD Paralympic Reference Center.
The Paralympic Festival is traditionally held in September to directly connect with two important dates on the inclusion and awareness calendar: the National Day of Struggle for People with Disabilities and the National Paralympic Athlete Day, celebrated on the 21st and 22nd, respectively.
Evolution of the festival
Created in 2018, the Paralympic Festival had its first edition in 48 cities and brought together around seven thousand participants. The following year, it reached 70 centers and surpassed the mark of 10,000 registered participants. In 2020, activities were suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The event was held again in 2021, when it toured 70 cities and brought together around eight thousand children. In 2022, the number of participants reached 15,000.
In 2025, the initiative reached its tenth edition and totaled more than 54,000 registrations in the two stages, a number 24,30% higher than that registered in the previous year. The first stage, held in June, received 27,478 registrations, a record for a single edition, and was held simultaneously in 124 cities across the 27 federative units. In September, the second stage counted 27,331 registrations in 105 locations throughout the country.
This year, the event had over 35,000 registered participants across 150 locations. In Rio Grande do Norte, the Festival took place in Macaíba, Mossoró, Currais Novos, and Pau dos Ferros.
About ISD
The Santos Dumont Institute (ISD) is a Social Organization of the Federal Executive Branch, supervised by the Ministry of Education, with the intervention of the Ministry of Sport. It encompasses the Edmond and Lily Safra International Institute of Neuroscience and the Anita Garibaldi Center for Education and Research in Health, both located in Macaíba. The ISD's mission is to promote education for life, forming citizens through integrated teaching, research, and outreach activities, as well as contributing to a more just and humane transformation of Brazilian social reality.
