Alicante's Bonfires of Saint John - Hogueras
Sporting many names (Noche de San Juan, Hogueras de San Juan, Fogueras, Bonfires of Saint John), the modern Hogueras de San Juan festival is an amalgamation of the ancient pagan celebration of the summer solstice, and the Christian feast of San Juan. The festival is celebrated between June 19th - 24th, and it marks the most important festival in the city of Alicante.
The History
Prior to 1928, this fiesta was celebrated much the same in Alicante as the rest of Europe, which saw people gathering together and burning objects like old furniture. However for that fateful year, an Alicante man by the name of Jose María Py adopted the idea for a similar fiesta held in Valencia (Fallas). Within three months the first Hogueras de San Juan were organized and took place, and thusly the tradition was born.
The Festival Today
The heart of the festival is the Día de San Juan, June 24th, where giant cardboard, wood and paper maché effigies are burnt to the ground. But of course there is much more to this fiesta...
No shortage of fun
The lead up to Día de San Juan is marked by colourful parades, the Flower Offerings to Our Lady of Remedy, a bull fighting festival, endless musical concerts, all night street partying and daily choruses of deafening mascletás (firecrackers).
Unveiling of the years Hogueras
In the midst of the insanity, artisans representing each of Alicante’s 86 barrios (neighbourhoods) manage to raise their hogueras in the streets. Some of these giant satirical effigies are as much a testament to cardboard and papermache as they are to art.
The public hits the streets during the week to tour around Alicante and view the masterful works that will be torched on the 24th. The local transit even sets up a free Hogueras bus that tours the streets to take in all of the main Hogueras and some of the minor ones.
It all goes to smoke at midnight
When the clock strikes twelve on the night of San Juan, a grandiose firework display from the Castillo de Santa Bárbara lights the city and signals the lighting of las hogueras. Soon the streets are aglow from the rising flames, and the celebrations truly begin.
As the intensity of the fires and partying grows to a feverish pitch, so does the temperature. At this point, the strange ritual of hurling insults at the bomberos (firemen) begins. Once they have been sufficiently 'motivated', the firemen unleash water onto the crowds.
On 'til the morning
In typical Alicante fashion, the party generally goes on until the sun starts to peek up the next morning. The street bars and baracas (street bars with music) generally go on until 4 am, after which people either seek out churros (a local pastry) or hit the discotecas to finish the night off.
Slideshow
These images were taken at the 2005 Hoguras festival. Sit back and let the slideshow play for itself or click a number to see the corresponding image.
More Information
Go Costa Blanca has a collection of resources related to the Hogueras festival, found in our resource section, and websites related to the Hogueras festival, found in our directory.
You can also find more information, in Spanish, on the official website for the Bonfires of San Juan, on this independent website and the hogueras information and schedule on Alacalle.com. Wikipedia provides an in depth look at the Bonfires of San Juan in english, as does this page on the hogueras, provided by the local government (scroll to the bottom of the page to navigate thru the four page coverage of the bonfires).