Fiat will mark the 50th anniversary of its Brazilian operations with a public event at the Mineirão Stadium in Belo Horizonte on July 21, 2026.
The Fiat Festival 50 Anos will combine live music with an exhibition of historic and current Fiat models. Brazilian journalist and television presenter Pedro Bial will host the event, which will include performances by Thiaguinho and Iza. Further acts are due to be announced. A vehicle display on the Mineirão Esplanade will examine Fiat’s history in Brazil through models associated with the company’s five decades of local production and sales, though the final list of cars has not yet been confirmed.
Fiat began manufacturing vehicles in Brazil in 1976 after establishing its factory at Betim in the state of Minas Gerais. The site has since developed into one of Stellantis’s principal manufacturing, engineering and product-development centres in South America.
The anniversary event will take place close to the company’s Betim operations, reflecting the role Minas Gerais has played in Fiat’s Brazilian history. The company currently describes Fiat as Brazil’s most popular automotive marque, while the Strada pick-up has led the country’s new-vehicle sales charts for five consecutive years. However, it is the Uno (below) that is the defining Brazilian car these days, perhaps more so than the VW Beetle or T2. While you can still regularly see the Volkswagens in use in Brazil today, the Unos (pictured below) are still everywhere, the ‘little donkeys’ of Brazilian motoring culture that function as more than just cars – they are workhorses, homes, vans, businesses all of themselves, carrying loads often bigger than the car’s footprint themselves. Production lasted from 1983 until 2014 in Brazil – 19 years after it ceased in Europe.
“Celebrating 50 years of Fiat in Brazil also means celebrating the history of thousands of Brazilians who have made our brand part of their lives,” said Herlander Zola, president of Stellantis South America. “We could not celebrate this occasion anywhere other than Minas Gerais, the state that welcomed Fiat and continues to stand alongside us today. We therefore want to celebrate together at the Fiat 50th Anniversary Festival at the Mineirão.”
Admission will be free, although visitors must donate 1kg of non-perishable food to the Paixão Alimenta project. The event is open to people aged 16 and over. Tickets for the general public will be released through Sympla from July 9, the date on which Fiat will officially mark its 50th anniversary in Brazil. More details are available here.
