Tonight, June 23, thousands of people will gather on Riazor and Orzán beaches in La Coruña in Galicia to celebrate La noche de San Juan – St. John’s night. They will be dancing around bonfires, eating sardines, drinking beer and generally letting their hair down in the name of seeing off any witches, evil spirits or bad vibes that might be hanging around. Just for locals? Oh no, everyone is very welcome to this party.
I was there last year and it was a pretty wild night – even though I wasn’t brave enough to jump over any of the fires or drunk enough to run into the sea. But I did eat sardines and drink queimada, the Galician concoction of aguardiente (a lethal spirit made from grapes), coffee beans, herbs, lemon and goodness knows what else. It has to be stirred in a special earthenware pot and ours was prepared by Suso Martínez, who is a fantastic guide and an expert on all things Galician.
At midnight, the bonfires are lit, fireworks are set off and the serious partying starts. Down on the beach, we danced, drank beer, talked to dozens of people and launched lanterns into the night sky. I don’t remember what time I got to bed, only that my clothes stank of woodsmoke the next day.
There are processions, concerts and all sorts of other activities going on in the fortnight leading up to San Juan too and it is a wonderful time to visit the city. I can’t wait to experience it again.
Mooching around Spain 
I’d forgotten it is tonight! Now maybe those damn black midges will leave…..(that is what they say in Jimena anyway 🙂 )
Really? Maybe you’ll have to make a queimada and put a spell on them!
What I love most about La Noche de San Juan is that all the generations join in the fun.
When we went to celebrate this year on the beach at Torre del Mar, east of Málaga, there were babies in their prams being pushed along by their great grannies 🙂 Even at midnight, I nearly got trampled in the rush to dip into the sea – and that wasn’t just the young folk – although, they went swimming whilst the older folk just paddled.
Such fun!
I can do the dancing and the drinking. The jumping? I’m not so sure 🙂
How wonderful to be in Coruña for this. We had our own celebration this year in rural Galicia which had its own charms but I would love to see the spectacle there!