The festival of san juan: Annual Festivals and Events in Puerto Rico

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16 мая, 2023
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The Festival of San Juan, Peru

Last updated: 31st October, 2019

Across the Peruvian jungle, from Madre de Dios through Ucayali and on to San Martin and Loreto, large metal pots simmer and bubble with large quantities of rice. Watched over by the women of the Peruvian selva, the rice boils as the men of the family bottle their wine and stock up on beer for the following day. Tomorrow is June 24, the Festival of San Juan.

Boiling rice for juanes on the eve of the San Juan festival in Tarapoto, Peru (photo by Tony Dunnell)

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June 24 – The San Juan Festival, Peru

June 24 is a big day on the Peruvian calendar. While highland Peruvians and international tourists descend on Cusco for the Inti Raymi festival, Peru’s jungle population gathers to celebrate the Festival of San Juan. San Juan Bautista, or Saint John the Baptist, is the patron saint of the Amazon, good guardian of all the vast rivers and life-giving tributaries of the region.

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Processions and events often begin a few days before June 24 and continue for a few days after. The main centres of celebration, such as Iquitos, Tarapoto, Tingo Maria, Pucallpa and Puerto Maldonado, post schedules of events that run for a week or so.

The day itself can be as relaxed or as lively as you wish – a few hours spent by the river or a two-day blitz of drinking and dancing. On the morning of the festival, locals pack up their food and drink and head to the riverbanks for a day of eating, drinking and swimming. Groups of men stand around talking football and passing round bottles of beer, as is the custom in Peru. Little children scurry and splash about while wives hand out the results of the previous day’s labour: the traditional juane.

Families begin to spread out along the riverside for the Festival of San Juan, Peru (photo by Tony Dunnell)

Juanes and the Peruvian Amazon

Juanes, named in honour of San Juan himself, are parcels of seasoned rice, chicken, egg and an olive or two wrapped up in green and waxy bijao leaves. Said to look like the head of Saint John, carried on a platter after his beheading, juanes are a standard snack throughout the year.

The women of the jungle, with their simmering pots, prepare massive amounts of juanes on the eve of the San Juan festival. The parcels are prepared with extra care and certainly no shortage of pride; they will be exchanged between families and friends, so only the best will do. The friendly, festive Peruvians often give a juane or two to stray gringos, those poor wanderers with no home or kitchen to call their own.

A stockpile of traditional juanes from the Peruvian Amazon (photo by Tony Dunnell)

The Night and Aftermath of the San Juan Festival

It’s a good idea to pace yourself as you drink and eat in the heat of the jungle sun. As night begins to fall, many of the revelers move from the riverbanks back to the towns and cities, where the drinking begins afresh. Discos remain lively until the early hours while traditional dances, known as pandillas, provide more opportunities to skip and stomp through the celebratory night.

Understandably, the following day tends to get off to a slow start. The locals rouse themselves from their unusually late slumbers and pass the day in relaxed fashion. School kids parade through the streets with paper lanterns, leftover juanes are passed around and the sun beats down as always. With Saint John freshly honoured and the riverbanks coated with bijao leaves, the Festival of San Juan slowly slides away until the following year.

Peru’s San Juan festival is also a good time to wash your mototaxi in the river (Tony Dunnell)

Attending the San Juan Festival in Peru

The San Juan festival is a lively, informal affair, so no great planning is required. If you are heading to the Peruvian Amazon around June 24, bear in mind that hotels and hostels sometimes reach capacity due to the influx of visitors. This is particularly true in some of the more popular places to spend San Juan, such as Iquitos, Tarapoto, Tingo Maria, Pucallpa and Puerto Maldonado. If you have any other questions about the San Juan festival, feel free to ask in the comments section below.

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St John’s Eve, Noche de San Juan, Festa Junina

St John’s Eve, on the night before St John the Baptist’s traditional birthday, is a Midsummer festival in the north and a Midwinter festival in the south.

The Spanish name for the festival is “La noche de San Juan.” The Portuguese name for the festival is “Festa junina” (June Festival). Festa junina is popular in Brazil.

St John’s Eve 2022

The next St John’s Eve is Thursday, June 23, 2022.

A Midsummer Celebration

The celebration falls near the June solstice, so it has blended with ancient European pagan celebrations of midsummer. It was originally a spring celebration, but the Catholic church encouraged the celebration on St John’s Eve.

Of course, in the southern hemisphere, St John’s Eve is a midwinter celebration.

Bonfires of St John

St John’s Eve, Noche de San Juan, Festa Junina (GDM/Adobe)

People in Catholic countries celebrate by gathering around bonfires with family and friends. In ancient times, people believed that evil spirits roamed free while the sun was turning south and lit bonfires for protection. When it is safe, people jump over the bonfires three times.

In Europe, the festival was originally celebrated by burning old furniture. It might be a historic inspiration for California’s Burning Man Festival.

La Noche de San Juan in Spain

St John’s Eve is popular in northern Spain and along Spain’s Mediterranean coast in Catalonia and Valencia. The Catalan pastry coca de Sant Joan is popular during this time.

There is a big festival in Alicante, Valencia where the bonfire constructions have grown into elaborate sculptures called Falles. They are often built with funny, political themes.

The Festival is sort of a summer carnival where neighborhoods compete to build the most beautiful and elaborate Falles. People raise money for the floats by having paella parties. Paella is the meal Spaniards cook for large groups of people.

St John’s Eve in Portugal

The Festa de São João do Porto is a big festival in Porto, Portugal.

St John’s Eve in Brazil

The Brazilian celebration is called Festa Junina (June Festival). It is popular in northeast Brazil, the country’s old Portuguese region.

St John’s Eve in the United States

St John’s Eve is celebrated in New Orleans and Puerto Rico.

In New Orleans, it is celebrated as a public Voodoo festival. The tradition goes back to priestess Marie Laveau in the 1830s. New Orleans is a Caribbean culture city influenced by the Haitian Diaspora before, during and after the Haitian Revolution (1791-1804). In that time, African gatherings were banned because slavers feared uprisings, so the festival was held in secret in the swamp along Lake Ponchartrain.

Marie Laveau was able to celebrate Saint John’s Eve publicly because she was a public figure in the New Orleans community. She invited Whites. However, the public ceremony was a distraction. The faith ceremonies were held deep in the swamp at different times away from public view.

The situation continues to the present day. It’s sad because Vodou is an Indigenous folk faith from the Fon people of Benin in West Africa. It’s similar to many human faiths around the world and across time. It’s a monotheistic faith based on nature and herbal medicine.

In competition and as a method of control, slaving colonizers and their priests demonized Indigenous and African faiths around the world. But there are no demons, only demonizers, and demonizing others actually demonizes yourself.

There is no real magic. Human ritual is theater that is designed to affect your mind. If you believe it, then it is true because it really changes your mind. But you do it to yourself, nobody does anything to you beyond the theater. That’s how it works. So if you are scared, you are actually scared of yourself (and probably what you yourself have done.)

Syncretism, the blending or masquerading of one faith inside another, is well described among African faiths of the Caribbean. But it’s also common among the Indigenous faiths in Latin America. The colonizer point of view is that Indigenous and African people “hid” their faith in Christianity, but there is another way to look at it. It is more likely that Indigenous and African people recognized the similarities in our faith practices that colonizer priests refused to see. It is pathologically narcissist to presume that my way is the only true way, and that if you don’t follow my way, you are the devil himself. That’s ridiculous, but is still the way many people think. It’s 2021, we know better.

La Noche de San Juan in Puerto Rico

It’s a popular celebration in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The original Spanish name for Puerto Rico was San Juan Bautista (St John the Baptist).

Families and friends gather around bonfires on beaches. At midnight people fall backwards into the sea three times to bring good luck for the coming year.

Unless you have your own group of friends, the hotels in Condado or Isla Verde are probably the best place to enjoy La Noche de San Juan in Puerto Rico.

See you on St John’s Eve!

Saints, Orishas, Loas & AngelS

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fire festival in Spain on the night of June 23-24

At the end of June, the Spaniards celebrate Midsummer Day — La Fiesta de San Juan. On the night of 23 to 24, in some places from 24 to 25 June, there is a festival that has changed over the centuries and depending on the region of Spain. The Church celebrates on this day the birth of John the Baptist, which took place 6 months before the birth of Christ.

Historians associate the holiday with pagan rites in honor of the summer solstice, although the shortest night of the year comes 2 days earlier, from 21 to 22 June. Nevertheless, the rites and traditions of the peoples of the Iberian Peninsula survived and the night of San Juan acquired the magic of the pagan holidays of the summer solstice.

The rites that take place on this night revolve around three elements:

Fire: bonfires celebrate the power of the sun and renew energy. The custom comes from ancient pagan cults that seek to scare away evil spirits and cleanse the world of evil and disease.
Water: symbolizes fertility and purity. Bathing naked in the dew, according to pagan priests, brings health, helps to find a partner or have children. Modern Spaniards believe that from midnight the water is miraculous, cures diseases and brings happiness.
Earth: after midnight, people go out to the fields for medicinal herbs, and then hang bouquets over the windows to receive the blessing of St. John.

This night is filled with joy and hope, good omens, good luck and positive energy. The bad and the negative are burned in the fires of San Juan and give way to the good and the positive.

Feast of San Juan in the regions of Spain

Andalusia

In the province of Cadiz, fires are lit on the beaches and rag dolls of juana are burned. In Almeria and Malaga, in addition to maintaining the flame of bonfires, women wash themselves with midnight water in order to wake up beautiful in the morning.

The Water and Jamon Festival takes place in Lanjarón in the province of Granada on the weekend closest to 24 June. At midnight, from 23 to 24, city residents run through the streets and pour all the water they find along the way on themselves, neighbors pour water on the race participants from windows and balconies. In the morning after the race, participants are treated to jamon free of charge. In addition, costumed parades and fairs take place on the streets during the week.

In Algeciras, on June 23, rag dolls with wish lists sewn inside are set up on the beaches. At midnight, the effigies are set on fire and the night is filled with bonfires and fireworks.

Balearic Islands

The El Jaleo tradition was born in Menorca. The name is translated as noisy fun, confusion, revival. Riders dressed in black and white head towards the center of the city. In the central square, riders ride through the crowd, demonstrating their skills in controlling the animal. Under a repeated short piece called «haleo», the rider puts the horse on two legs, transferring the weight to the hindquarters.

Those standing nearby put their hands on the sides of the animal to help balance and take a few steps. At the festival, they drink gin with lemonade, they light fires in the squares and dance. At midnight, a purification ritual is performed with the help of fire. A piece of paper on which a wish list has been written is thrown into the fire. While the paper is burning, the flame is jumped over three times. If a fire is made on the beach, three coins are thrown into the sea, with their backs to the water.

Canary Islands

On the night of June 23-24, bonfires are lit on the islands of the archipelago, around which they have fun until the morning. In the fishing villages of the northern part of Tenerife, domestic goats are bathed in sea water at dawn to protect them from disease.
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria was founded in 1478 on the day of San Juan. Therefore, the celebrations stretch for a whole week.

In addition to the bonfires on the beaches, there are free outdoor concerts and fireworks in Playa de las Canteras.

Cantabria

In Cantabria, the original customs of this night are still preserved: jumping over fires, walking on coals, dancing around the flames and carrying fire across the fields to protect the crops. On the night of San Juan, a branch of poplar or alder is decorated with flowers and placed on the window of the girl she likes. In addition, a tree is placed in the center of the city, with ribbons, and bouquets.

According to legend, Caballucos de Diablo, huge dragonflies with demon riders appear at midnight and destroy joy and happiness. To avoid an attack, you need to find a clover leaf and keep it with you.

Castile and León

In Zamora, holidays are celebrated with garlic fairs, folk pottery, concerts and folk dances in the main square. In the province of Soria, in the town of San Pedro Manrique, the townspeople walk barefoot along a path of red-hot coals.

In Valladolid, the night of San Juan is celebrated mainly on Moreras beach. Locals gather around bonfires and write wishes down on paper. At midnight, the sheets are thrown into the fire. The festival is accompanied by concerts and gastronomic fairs.

Castile-La Mancha

In Albacete, the peak of the holiday falls on June 24 and on the night of San Juan. A procession with torches goes from the town hall to the Fairgrounds, where the fire of San Juan is lit, into which old things and rubbish are thrown. This is followed by fireworks and festivities until the morning.

Catalonia

In Catalonia, the holiday is called the Night of Fire — Nit del Foc, the Night of the Witches — Nit de les Bruixes or the Night of the Dew — Nit del Ros. Volunteers take the fire that has been burning since 1965 in the kitchen of the Casa Pairal Museum in Perpigna Castle and climb to the top of Canigó, 2784 meters high. They light a new fire, and at dawn on June 23 they descend with a renewed Flame.

Thus begins the annual journey of fire for the Festival of Saint John in different parts of Catalonia. Parties with drinks and dances are arranged around the fires, firecrackers and fireworks are blown up.

Valencian Community, Alicante.

The holiday dates back to the time when farmers celebrated the longest day of the year for harvesting and the shortest night for wiping out evil. The first street parties with games, music and the first puppets caricatures of the vices of society appeared in Alicante in 1881. From 1932 years there were competitions for the best doll and the most beautiful representative of the neighborhood community.

Now the Bonfires of San Juan Alicante have been declared an object of international tourist interest. The festival starts on the first Friday of June. From the 14th to the 20th, sculptural compositions are installed that carry a satirical message. On the night of June 24-25, the dolls are burned. Fireworks are launched from Santa Barbara Castle, which is visible from anywhere in the city.

Extremadura

Coria, province of Cáceres, celebrates Sanjuanes, which was declared a Festival of National Tourist Interest at 1976 year. On June 23, 12 bulls are driven through Plaza Mayor, the main square, as they pass by the firewood set for the fire. From the 24th, 2-3 bulls are released into the streets of the city for 5 days.

Daredevils try their luck by running in front of animals. In 2019, a bullfight was added to the celebrations. The final of the national competition of bullfighting schools «Ciudad de Coria» takes place on 29 June. In the Olivenza region, in the province of Badajoz, dolls made from straw and rags are burned to destroy the annoyances and problems of the past year.

Galicia

Fire, water and herbs of San Juan are worshiped in Galicia. This autonomous community is dominated by summer solstice-oriented celebrations and variants related to Celtic mythology. Bonfires are lit in every yard, square and quarter. On the night of June 24, Galicia looks like a territory of thousands of fiery points.

A Coruña

The holiday received the right to be called a festival of international tourist interest in 2015. The people of A Coruña celebrate the arrival of summer with bonfires, grilled sardines and fireworks. On June 23, costumed processions, a parade of giant puppets and orchestra performances take place in the city. The fire is lit at 10 pm on the 24th. To gain health and good luck, the inhabitants of La Coruña jump over fires.

Nine leaps above the flame guarantee success in business, and nine sea waves promise the birth of a child in the coming year. A typical holiday drink, Keimada, is made with fruit brandy and lots of sugar.

Basque Country

June 24th for the Basque city of Tholos is festive processions and dinners. In the morning, communities of neighbors prepare meals for dancers, pipers, flute players, and participants in the Parade of the Giants. At 10:30 the procession arrives at Church Square. At 11:00, the mass ends in the Cathedral, the image of St. John is taken out and installed on the main gate of the church.

Giant figures with puppeteers inside dance to the sound of bagpipes and flutes. After a volley of guns, the procession makes a circle through the streets of the city and arrives at the Town Hall Square, where a festive dinner begins for the participants of the festival and the inhabitants of Tholos.

What do the Spaniards think and ask for on the night of San Juan

The San Juan festival began as a pagan holiday. The inhabitants thanked the gods and spirits of nature for the summer, harvest, fruits and for the increase in daylight hours. Rituals are popular in our time.

Fulfillment of wishes

Place an ivy branch and white paper with a wish under the pillow. Before going to bed, light a white candle, let it burn out. Add wax to paper and ivy and go to bed. In the morning, burn the paper and bury the ashes to make the wish come true.

Attracting economic well-being

Wait until there is neither moon nor sun in the sky and go picking vervain. It protects from evil, brings good luck in money matters.

Attracting good luck in love and wealth

On the night of San Juan, go looking for clover. The two-leaf will attract a loved one, the three-leaf will protect love. A four-leaf clover will bring wealth, and a five-leaf clover will bring good luck in financial affairs and protect against ruin.

Help in finding love

Light two red candles in the bedroom. Write your name and the name of the person you want to involve on a piece of paper. Fold the leaf and seal with wax. Boil a decoction of three parts yarrow, three parts lavender, three parts verbena, 12 red rose petals, and one part ginger. Spray the room with cooled infusion. Put paper under your pillow and go to bed. This night you will have a prophetic dream about the near future.

Choosing the right groom

Fill a basin with water and place it under the bed. Put folded sheets of paper with the names of applicants in it. The next morning, the sheet with the desired name will be expanded.

Protection from troubles and misfortunes

Place seven red candles on a surface covered with a red cloth. Fire one after the other. Name out loud the seven virtues you attract: energy, magnetism, passion, love, courage, prosperity, and protection. Write these words on paper. Let the candles burn to the end.

Make a paper envelope with a photo and a list. Go to the fire, take the ashes and put them in an envelope, seal with wax and keep for a year in a red cardboard box.

fire festival in Spain on the night of June 23-24

The rites that take place on this night revolve around three elements:

Fire: bonfires celebrate the power of the sun and renew energy. The custom comes from ancient pagan cults that seek to scare away evil spirits and cleanse the world of evil and disease.
Water: symbolizes fertility and purity. Bathing naked in the dew, according to pagan priests, brings health, helps to find a partner or have children. Modern Spaniards believe that from midnight the water is miraculous, cures diseases and brings happiness.
Earth: after midnight, people go out to the fields for medicinal herbs, and then hang bouquets over the windows to receive the blessing of St. John.

This night is filled with joy and hope, good omens, good luck and positive energy. The bad and the negative are burned in the fires of San Juan and give way to the good and the positive.