The Romanian midsummer celebration whose name refers to the mythical flower-bearing fairies of June 24 is Sânziene.
Sânziene is celebrated on June 24, coinciding with the Christian feast of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist. In Romanian folklore, the Sânziene are supernatural female beings associated with flowers, fertility, beauty and the power of midsummer night.
People traditionally gather yellow bedstraw flowers, make wreaths and use plants in household or personal rituals. The holiday also has regional names and customs, including Drăgaica in parts of Romania, so the vocabulary is not perfectly uniform across the country.
Sânziene is often reduced to a flower festival, but it is also a major seasonal and folkloric observance. Its traditions connect Christian calendar timing with older beliefs about the extraordinary power of the June solstice period.