Night of San Juan June 23: origins, rituals and bonfires

Surely you have ever seen on Instagram or TikTok posts about a night party on the beach, during the summer, where there are a lot of people and they light bonfires… right?

It is about the celebration of parties de San Juan, in which the shortest night of the year welcomes the arrival of the summer solstice.

Superstitions, fire and rituals on the night of San Juan. This is how this magical night is.

When is the night of San Juan?

It is celebrated every year in the night of June 23, Eve of Saint John the Baptist on June 24.

¿Where is San Juan celebrated??

This holiday is celebrated in many parts of the world, both in the southern hemisphere and in the northern hemisphere. Also in Spain, of course. In fact, in our country the day of San Juan is a public holiday.

Among the traditions of the San Juan festivities, it is worth highlighting bonfires and jump over them or bathe in rivers, beaches, streams or fountains to purify themselves in order to free yourself from the bad and be able to embrace the good.

And so, start the summer on the right foot!

Traditions at San Juan and where to jump bonfires on the longest night of the year.

Night of San Juan history

To understand the traditions of Saint John, it is necessary to understand a little its history.

La history of the Night of San Juan began as a ritual of pagan origin associated with the arrival of the Summer Solstice, whose rite consisted of lighting a bonfire in honor of the sun to give it strength.

From June 21 the days they become shorter, until the winter solstice arrives and they thought that with the bonfires they would give more strength to the sun, so that it would shine all year round. 

Oh, if this were possible, you too would spend the winter lighting fires, right?

Well the Christianism decided to adopt this date, in honor of the day of the birth of Saint John the Baptist, one of the most important prophets of Christianism, whose father, to commemorate the birth of his son and announce it, had a fire lit. 

the crystalianism picked up this tradition and added it to the calendar, so every year to light bonfires!

For everything you have superstition and magic this night is considered the perfect night to perform spells to ward off evil spirits and attract good ones.

Now that you know the history of the night of San Juan and its meaning, do you dare to make these spells for the night of San Juan?

Tradition implies the presence of water and fire for the rituals of the night of San Juan.

What day is the Night of San Juan?

There are debates about when is the day of San Juan. The original date of the realization of this festival is associated with the summer solstice, since this happens, according to the calendar, between June 21 and 22.

The festival of San Juan is celebrated between the night of the 23rd and the early morning of the 24th in places like Valencia.

In some cities like Alicante, the festival of the night of San Juan, also known as the festival of San Juan, is celebrated between the night of June 24, the day of San Juan and the dawn of the 25th. The bonfires of Alicante are some of the most famous in Spain.

The most important thing is to celebrate the party and enjoy this magical night with friends or family, don't you think?

Night of San Juan: Some simple rituals

The rituals of the festivity of San Juan on this magical night are as old as the people and with the passage of time some traditions are still alive.

Always with two objectives:

• Leave the bad behind. How? Burning it with fire!

• Welcome the good, purifying yourself with water, getting your feet wet!

The three main elements for rituals are fire, water and herbs. With these three elements, we will be able to carry out the main simple rituals of the night of San Juan.

Fire helps us burn the bad and leave behind bad luck and negative energies.

One of the most famous rituals is jumping over the San Juan bonfire to ward off evil spirits throughout the year. 

Do you dare to jump over the fire?

Water is another fundamental element: the water purifies. 

Tradition has it that you have to bathe and jump waves, in this way you will get health and happiness throughout the year.

(But if the water is very cold, you better get your feet wet, lest you get constipated.)

Herbs and medicinal plants such as rosemary, thyme, fennel, fern, common mallow, etc. that grow in the ground they are used to increase their beneficial and healing effects on health.

These herbs, together with sea water, can also be used to perform facial rituals on the night of San Juan and achieve more physical beauty.

What is done on the Night of San Juan?

We have talked about the main elements that are used in the simple rituals of the night of San Juan.

But now you want to know how the night of San Juan is celebrated in Spain and what the main rituals are, right?

So let's go with them:

San Juan's bonfires

The jewel in the crown of the rituals for the night of San Juan. 

Light fires and jump over them It is one of the most important things to do on the night of San Juan. This will give us luck and protection throughout the year.

Valencia, Alicante and Galicia are three of the places where the San Juan festivities are most famous.

There is no established number on how many times you have to jump, but what is clear is that must be odd, so, if you jump once, you will already be driving away evil spirits and you will comply with the beliefs of the night of San Juan.

Specifically, in the Valencian Communityiana The ritual is to jump seven times over the bonfires. Only suitable for daring.

Instead, in Galicia the ritual of the bonfires on the night of San Juan is to jump nine times and also say out loud and with force, while you jump ¡Meigas out! (witches out).

Sometimes it is possible to jump the bonfires with music to make the experience more rhythmic and magical.

Rhythms and traditions at the same time?

In San Juan everything is possible!

The baths in the sea on the Night of San Juan and the jumps of the waves

Another widespread ritual of the festivity of San Juan on the coast is take a bath in the sea and jump the waves after 00:00 hours, while the moon is shining.  

Tradition says that it will serve to eliminate everything negative from your life and ensure health throughout the year.

The water during this magical night has healing and miraculous properties.

Well, we are going to take advantage, it is not going to be true.

Make wishes and burn objects on the Night of San Juan

Another important ritual is making wishes and writing phrases for the night of San Juan.

Tradition says you have to make wishes on the night of San Juan with phrases written on paper.

What is burned in the bonfire of San Juan?

You have to make sure that the paper with the wishes is burned in the bonfire, otherwise your wishes will not be fulfilled.

Objects that have been in our lives during the year and that we want to get rid of, such as old wooden furniture, are also thrown into the fire.

To the fire all the bad! 

Another ritual to get rid of all evil is to purify yourself with a laurel branch on the magical night of San Juan.

other traditions

In the Valencian CommunityianIn Catalonia, pyrotechnics and the launching of firecrackers gain importance.

En Alicante the Bonfires of San Juan are the official festivals of the city. To celebrate it there are mascletás, firework displays and gigantic figures like ninots: the city is llena of music and colors. 

In the province of Cadiz, rag dolls called Juanes are burned that represent a man and a woman, in addition to the bonfires on the beaches, the fireworks and the festivals.

In ForeignemadIn the ura there is also a tradition of making dolls out of paper, rags or straw and then burning them at the stake.

The festival of San Juan in Galicia also prepares the famous burned with their spell to which they attribute healing properties and serves to scare the witches (witches in Galician).

As you have been able to read, the rituals on the night of San Juan are very important in many parts of Spain.

If you are in Spain, you cannot leave without experiencing it.

complete rituals

Other people choose to perform complete rituals on the beach to eliminate the bad and attract the good:

• On the beach you have to be barefoot and in light-colored clothing, if it is white better.
• Bring candles to the beach of different colors with which to form a circle and light them, in the middle of the circle, light incense.
• Once you have the preparation, you write on a white paper what you want to get rid of, say it out loud and burn the paper with a white candle.

 And with this spell the bad things will be removed.

San Juan's bonfires

The night of San Juan in Alicante is a very representative festival with a lot of international tourist interest.

These parties are celebrated with music, gunpowder and fire. Alicante bonfires are impressive.

The origin of the festival is burning of unusable objects on the summer solstice.

The party begins on June 20 and lasts until June 29. In the days leading up to Midsummer's Eve, in the streets are planted papier-mâché monuments with satirical images called Fire pit (bonfire)

It is the most important element of the festival: they are monuments made of wood, cardboard and cork that are located in different parts of the city.

Each monument has a different theme where his dolls are represented in critical situations or satires.

There are two types of Fire pit (bonfire). The children's ones have a colorful, aesthetic and a children's theme very different from the adult bonfires.

These monuments are burned on June 24 with the famous night of the cream, the highlight of these parties.

Bonfires burn all over town and firefighters, to help people endure the heat, perform the popular banya (wet) throwing water at the attendees.

During the festivities there are booths where you can taste the brevas y the cokes (a kind of empanada of tuna, onion and pine nuts) and the popular verbenas are held.

You already know that in Spain there is no shortage of delicious food at parties.

And what we like a party to the Spaniards!

It also proceeds to the floral offering to the patron saint of the city, la Virgin of Remedy, on June 21 and 22.

Every day at two in the afternoon they run pyrotechnic shows, the famous mascletás.

(Yes, yes, we know that all this reminds you of the Fallas, and with good reason).

Of course, if you are going to enjoy one, we recommend that you bring plugs to protect your ears, since the noise caused by gunpowder and rockets is deafening. 

Once past the Butter from day 24 Between June 25 and 29, to end the San Juan festivities, the fireworks contest is held on the Postiguet beach and in the old town you can enjoy its medieval market.

Now you know what to do on the night of San Juan, where to celebrate it and why it is of such great tourist interest.

With everything that we have told you, we will surely have set your teeth long and you really want to come and enjoy these holidays.

Do you want to discover them in person? Alicante is less than 2 hours from Valencia. 

Night of San Juan Valencia

La Saint John's night in Valencia It is another magical night and if you are in Valencia you cannot miss it.

It is celebrated between the night of June 23 and 24 are dealt with first, followed by bonfires on the beaches where people gather to jump the bonfire, the waves of the sea and do the rest of the rituals of the night of San Juan.

The bonfires of San Juan in Valencia and the baths can be held in the Malvarrosa and Cabanyal beaches, as the town hall gives permission that day.

In addition, the town hall provides you with free firewood to make the bonfires.

What more could you want!

For you to fully enjoy the magic of the night of San Juan in Valencia We are going to give you a series of tips.

• If you jump the bonfire, do it with caution, do not go to take a memory in the form of whatemadpainful ure.
• If you bathe, don't do it alone and don't go too far into the sea, it's not necessary. You can just get your feet wet and it has the same effect.
• You can be on the beach with the bonfires until four in the morning, enough party time. Be careful because later they can be sanctioned.

You already know that if in addition to coming to Valencia to enjoy the San Juan festivities, you also want to do a Spanish course in summer to learn or improve your Spanish, in Hispania, escuela de español We are waiting with open arms