St John’s Eve, the festival of fire!
Year another year, the Canigó Flame, bonfires and revelry will fill all the city’s neighbourhoods to celebrate the shortest night of the year.
Few celebrations are more deeply rooted in Barcelona and Catalonia than Saint John’s Eve. Music, dancing, dinners with family and friends, coca cake and especially fire are the essential elements for what is popularly known as the shortest night of the year. The city’s neighbourhoods come out in full force by organising festivities among residents and creating community like very few other days of the year. But everything begins with the arrival of the Canigó Flame. For more than 50 years, Barcelona has been welcoming it in Plaça Sant Jaume in an official ceremony on 23 June. A floral carpet is laid out in the morning, and the festivities begin at 4:30 pm with the welcome festival of sardana dancing, dances of the “beasts” (creatures that are part of the city’s imaginary bestiary) of Barcelona, speeches and lanterns. After that, teams from different neighbourhoods carry the Canigó Flame to different bonfires around the city to light them.
This will be the kick-off of the celebrations of St John’s Eve, with its characteristic bonfires accompanied by many other activities. In Ciutat Vella, for example, there will be habanera music, a street parade, batucada and a party with DJs. Sant Andreu will have live music, correfocs and many neighbourhood dinners. And there will be a huge celebration all over Barcelona, in Sants-Montjuïc, Sarrià-Sant Gervasi, Gràcia, Horta-Guinardó and other districts as well.
Plus, to get the festivities started, some of the city’s civic centres will host festivals on the days leading up to St John’s Eve, such as La Sedeta and Torre Llobeta (20/06) and La Bruguera (21/06). You can find more information on the Barcelona Town Hall website.