Which Roman festival honored the goddess Vesta in June?

The Roman festival honoring Vesta in June was Vestalia.

Vestalia was held from June 7 to June 15 in honor of Vesta, goddess of the hearth and guardian of Rome’s sacred fire. Vesta’s worship centered on the round Temple of Vesta in the Roman Forum, where the Vestal Virgins maintained a fire believed to represent the continuity and security of the Roman state.

The festival’s opening was unusual because the temple’s inner sanctuary, normally closed or curtained off, was opened to women. Mothers could enter barefoot and leave offerings for Vesta while asking for blessings on their households. The celebration therefore connected Rome’s public religion with domestic life and family protection.

June 9 was especially associated with the donkey, an animal honored with garlands and bread. Ovid linked this custom both to donkeys’ work in bakeries and to a myth in which a donkey’s braying saved Vesta from the advances of Priapus. Vestalia ended with purification and the closing of the sanctuary on June 15.