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Hogueras de San Juan

If you visit Alicante, Spain over the next few days (now until Wednesday) you will be witness to the celebrations of the Hogueras de San Juan - the San Juan Festival.

This is one of the largest and most flamboyant festivals that is held in Alicante and if you are able to witness this you are in for a real treat. It is of cultural significance and as such has been declared of ‘International Tourist Interest’.

Origins of the Hogueras de San Juan

This Festivals origin lies in the arrival of the summer solstice. Many years ago when June 21st arrived the people of Alicante would find useless objects that they no longer needed and burn them as a way of celebrating this time.

This festival is named after San Juan (Saint John) but the connection to this Saint came as an after thought. Apparently the Spanish government needed a religious ‘excuse’ for the festival! And so this ritual was named after San Juan and over the years it has developed into a huge carnival type festival with celebrations, fireworks and burning of paper mache statues - hogueras instead of burning the rubbish.

The statues are actually burnt on the 24th June as this is the last day of the festival during what is known as a “Night of Burning”. (Don’t worry the firefighters are there to put out the burning). On the actual day a firework is set off from the dominating Alicante Castle (Castillo de Santa Bárbara) then the hogueras are set alight. These hogueras are works of art reminiscent of the massive structures of valencia’s Las Fallas.

Below are some photos of the magnificent firework display on the last night of this festival (taken in 2008) and an example of the Hogueras paper mache statues.

Aswell as this burning ceremony the 4 day festival also includes a fireworks competition (every day in the Plaza de los Luceros square at 2pm), there are also parades, floral tributes to the Virgin del Remedio and procession of the effigies. There is also a medieval market and interesting foods and overall a great party atmosphere.

Most importantly to the Spanish there is a competition to elect the next ‘Belleza del Fuego’ (Beauty of the Fire) who is the festival’s queen served by six ladies of honor.

All of this is free and whilst maybe not all of it is suitable for really young children / toddlers the older members of a family are sure to enjoy this.

For more information about Alicante and what it has to offer please see our main site www.discover-alicante.com

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