The best plans for the San Juan festival

BarcelonaThe San Juan festival, held on the night of June 23rd and 24th, is one of the most anticipated festivals of the year. This magical night offers a range of activities that combine tradition, festivity, and fire, celebrating the arrival of summer and the good weather. We present 10 activities spread across the region so you can enjoy this evening.

The Canigó Flame symbolizes the continuity and transmission of Catalan culture. The flame, which remains year-round in the Casa Pairal Museum in Perpignan, is carried to the top of Canigó on June 22nd. At midnight, the flame is shared among those who participate, who then send it to hundreds of towns in the Catalan Countries, "from Salsas to Guardamar and from Fraga to Maó," along various routes. Each town welcomes it with music and dance and with the reading of a shared message, this year written by Pere Mateu, which recalls the origin and meaning of the initiative.

You can see here a map with the different arrival points of the flame.

Declared an Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2015, the Fallas del Pirineo are a tradition linked to the summer solstice that involves the lowering of lit torches from the mountains to the villages. From mid-June to late July, sixty-three villages in the Pyrenees and the Pre-Pyrenees—including the Principality, Northern Catalonia, Andorra, and Aragon—celebrate this festival associated with sun worship and purification through fire. In some villages, such as El Pont de Suert, Vilaller, and Casós, the Fallas coincide with the night of Sant Joan.

See all activities here.

The San Juan festivities in Ciutadella date back to the 14th century and, with the horse at their center, are one of the most characteristic of the Menorcan calendar. June 23rd is the main day: at two in the afternoon, the streets fill with people to watch the fuss, where horses and riders, adorned and dressed in matching outfits, bounce to the rhythm of the music. The festivities continue until dawn, with the Caracol de Santa Clara and the Corridas de Sa Plaça.

Here You will find all the necessary information about this holiday.

According to legend, the Water Women, magical and elusive creatures, return to Sant Joan les Fonts to bless the lands, coinciding with the festival of Sant Joan. Many popular myths claim that on the night of the summer solstice—the "most magical night of the year"—the boundary between reality and fantasy blurs. Inspired by these tales, the town offers a dance and light show, beginning on the medieval bridge, inviting visitors to delve into the imagination of these mysterious figures.

See details here.

In the coastal town of L'Ampolla, Sant Joan is linked to the medicinal women, women knowledgeable in medicinal plants who were responsible for preparing rituals and home remedies. For years, the medicinal women of L'Ampolla have gathered before Sant Joan to collect local medicinal herbs and share the folk wisdom of their ancestors. The L'Ampolla Women's Association, responsible for the initiative, is also responsible for bringing the Flame of Canigó to the town.

See the full festival schedule here.

The Ítaca Sant Joan festival reaches its thirteenth edition this year with three days of concerts, on June 20, 21, and 23, on the beach of l'Estartit. On Midsummer Night, Mushka—who performed last year—will share the stage with Figa Flawas and Ouineta, who are making their debut there. For years, it has been one of the most popular festivals on the Costa Brava, combining music and culture with the Medes Islands as a privileged backdrop.

You will find all the necessary information in your Web page.

The Bonfires of San Juan are Alicante's biggest festival and one of the most representative celebrations of the Valencian festive calendar. Declared a Festival of International Tourist Interest, they combine fire, satirical criticism, and popular culture. Throughout the festival days, Alicante hosts a program of events that includes parades, cavalcades, floral offerings, musical performances, and sporting activities. Bonfires are set up in the neighborhoods, and it is common to eat cake with tuna and figs in the stalls and popular corners.

After the burning After the bonfires, the celebration concludes with a fireworks competition launched from the beach. The festival retains ties to the summer solstice celebrations, but with a staging that is closer to the Fallas of Valencia than to the typical Catalan festival.

More information here.

More and more people are calling for a quieter San Juan. For some people with hearing hypersensitivity and some pets, the festival can be a distressing experience. Municipalities across the country have long offered quieter and more inclusive alternatives: this is the case with the Manresa children's festival, a firecracker-free event that celebrated its 25th anniversary last year. Private solutions have also been explored. For example, La Traca, a pyrotechnics company, has launched a line of products designed to maintain the visual spectacular but with lower noise emissions. Some hotels dog-friendly They offer accommodations designed to avoid noise.

The Sant Joan de Valls festival is one of the most traditional and oldest in Catalonia. Bonfire competitions, human tower performances, cake tastings, and parades are some of the activities that make this celebration a unique experience. The midnight San Juan festival, Les Testarudes, Doctor Prats, and Banda Neon will turn the Hort del Carme parking lot into a party space for all tastes, with styles ranging from ska and reggae to Mediterranean sounds and covers.

This year, the capital of Alt Camp will also experience two historic events. First, it will be the first major festival since the restoration of the bell tower, which the bell ringers will commemorate with traditional manual ringing. Second, Valls will bid farewell to its Àliga, designed by Anton Gurí in 1991, which will perform its final dance in the Plaza del Tomb before being replaced by a new figure during Candlemas in 2026.

See all activities here.

Catalan proverbs are full of sayings that refer to: "On Saint John's Day, on its large beach," "On Saint John's Day, the river demands meat," "On Saint John's Day, the first swim," "Saint John's Bath, health for the whole year." Whether in the sea or in the river, bathing at night on the night of Saint John's Day is a widespread custom. Associated with the purification of body and spirit, bathing during the solstice has traditionally been seen as a practice with protective and healing properties. Saint John's Day is a festival of music, light, and fire, but also of water.