
Due
to the COVID-19 health crisis, this year's San Joan
festivities have cancelled for 2020.
Midsummer celebrations have been around for
thousands of years ever since our ancestors lit bonfires to ward off the evil
spirits that were said to roam freely once the sun began its journey back southwards
and the nights began to lengthen. It is thought that their origins are linked
to the ancient Roman festival of Saturnalia which was adapted by those living
around the central Pyrenees, the valleys of Andorra and Catalonia as well as
Aragon and Valencia. Enduring time and social evolution, these traditions
continue to uphold a central theme: the ancient custom of lighting fires to
prolong the light through the night to the following dawn. As in most cases
of ancient traditions across Europe,
these midsummer pagan rituals were Christianized and adapted to become a celebration of
the birth of St. John the Baptist (San Juan
Bautista in Castellano; Sant Joan Baptista in Valenciano).
For Jávea, the origin
of the modern celebrations of San Juan stretch back to
1950. The fiestas took place between the 18 and 24 June
with a varied and familiar programme that included Valencian
pilota with some of the best players of the time, bulls
in the streets which were released throughout the narrow
streets of the historic
centre, live music and dancing to local bands, parades,
the noisy 'desperta', the float parade, mascleta, fireworks
and the traditional burning of the Fogueras, the main
one of which was installed in the Placeta del Convent
whilst the junior bonfire was in the church square.
Maria Teresa Calzada Rubio was elected at the town's
first ever Foguera Queen with Gerttrudis Tena Sendra
as the first junior queen. Although the devastating flood of 1957 almost ended them before they
really had a chance to get going, the efforts of the likes of Vicente de Gràcia,
who built most of the 'fogueras' between 1950 and 1967, ensured that the fiesta
continued and grew to become the major fiesta of the town.
The
modern format was first developed in 1984 with the introduction
of the "quintà" as the main protagonists of
the celebrations. At the time, the future of the fiesta
was looking bleak after a wholesale resignation of the
Commission which was responsible for organising the
festivities and the Council called on all those born
in 1965 and who would be celebrating their 18th birthday
to create a Joint Committe and take on the role.
This quintà was called "La Rebolica"
- and it remains today - and from its headquarters in
the basement in the building of what is now the municipal
library, they elected Tere Andres Cardona as Foguera
Queen and Charo Torres Espasa as Xabiera Queen. The
following year, 1985, the position of councillor for
fiestas was created and Rafael Bisquert Vidal was the
first holder of the role. In 1993, an association of
penyas was created as their role began bigger and bigger
in the resurgence of the celebrations. Now the festivities are similar to those celebrated by the city of Valencia and other towns, which welcome the arrival of
spring with the Fallas of San José
in March.
So what happens during these two weeks
of festivities? It is our favourite fiesta of the year so javeamigos.com hopes
to be able to make things a little clearer so that more people can enjoy the
celebrations. Click on the links below to discover more ...
Part
1 - Quintà and Peñas · Proclamacion de les Reinas ·
Pregón Part 2 - Bull-Running · the marmite of fiestas Part
3 - Día de les Quintades · Desfile de las Penyas · Serenata Part
4 - Nit dels Focs · the magical night of fires Part
5 - El Día de Sant Joan · the symbolic bonfires

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