Bonfires of Saint John is a popular festival celebrated around June 24, (Saint John’s day) in several towns in Spain. For this festival, people gather together and create large bonfires from any kind of wood, such as old furniture, and share hot chocolate while teens and children jump over the fires.
A pie of tuna (coca anb tonyina) and early figs (bacores) is traditionally eaten while setting up the events.
The festival is celebrated throughout many cities and towns; however, the largest and most elaborate version is in Alicante. On the night of St John, gigantic (20 to 30 foot high) explosive caricatures (ninots) are paraded through the streets and exploded in a spectacular finale with fireworks and pyrotechnics, making this festival into the most important (and loudest!) cultural event in Alicantinian society.
Collected from various sources
- Rachel V Perry: Emancipation Day
- Rachel: The Nemesia
- Bethan: Mawlid an Nabi
- Alexis: Hygeia’s Day
- Nice: The Agonalia
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