Sant Joan in Catalonia

The festival of Sant Joan is one of the most celebrated festivals in Catalonia. The arrival of summer is commemorated and bonfires are the traditional way to do it. All over the city, piles of wood and old furniture are burning, and music and popular festivities are flooding the streets, squares, and beach. The traditional fruit and pine nut cake, a typical delicacy of Sant Joan's night, cannot be missed. And while it’s actually the shortest night of the year, for many, it’s certainly the longest.

This popular event takes place around the summer solstice, especially on the night of June 23rd-24th. The celebration integrates a whole series of customs and practices that have come down to us since pagan times. Fire, music and castles are the backbones of the party in Tarragona.

The main events take place in Serrallo, with the arrival of the Canigó flame, and in the Rambla Nova, with the Fire Parade starring the local fire groups (Diables dance, Drac, Bou, Griu, Víbria and Colla de Diables Voramar del Serrallo), accompanied by some invited groups, which ends with the lighting of the bonfire. In several squares of the city there are festivals that end with the sunrise.

On the evening of June 24th, the traditional Sant Joan Castle Day takes place in Plaça de la Font, with the performance of the local castle groups: Xiquets de Tarragona, Colla Jove Xiquets de Tarragona, Xiquets del Serrallo and Colla Castellera Sant Pere and Sant Pol.