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Nit de Sant Joan

In Barcelona, the 23rd of June marks no ordinary day. Families, friends and neighbors come together in the streets to celebrate the festival of Sant Joan.

 

Their outdoor evening meal is lit by a giant community bonfire in the street, set aflame by neighborhood representatives carrying the Canigó Flame by foot from the Plaça de Sant Jaume, where the fire is first received by representatives of the municipal authority.

 

By this time in the late afternoon, all of Barcelona is aglow, and children dance with one another in the streets to the live music of local musicians and the sounds of the crackling fire. They throw firecrackers and light fireworks, while their parents dine with neighbors at an outdoor meal.

 

They celebrate on this night the summer solstice and the birth of St. John the Baptist, and their celebrations, or revetlles, last until the wee hours of the morning.

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