What is the Galician midsummer celebration on Saint John’s Eve called?

The Galician midsummer celebration on Saint John’s Eve is called Noite de San Xoán.

Noite de San Xoán means “Night of Saint John” in the Galician language and takes place on June 23. Galicia, in northwestern Spain, marks the occasion with beach and neighborhood bonfires, communal gatherings, fireworks, music, and traditional foods such as sardines. Jumping over a fire a prescribed number of times is a popular custom in some places, although practices differ by locality.

The celebration links Saint John’s Christian feast with older midsummer ideas about fire, protection, purification, and renewal. A particularly famous custom involves the herbs of San Xoán, plants gathered and left in water overnight before being used for a ritual morning wash.

Noite de San Xoán is distinct from Galicia’s Entroido, the pre-Lenten carnival season. It is also not the same as Día das Letras Galegas, a May literary commemoration.