Zeraingo Udala - Ayuntamiento de Zerain

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CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS > Saint John's Eve

Saint John's Eve is celebrated on 23 June. Although it was originally a pagan festival, it was soon incorporated into the Christian calendar. The festival celebrates the shortest night of the year, the summer solstice, and is an opportunity to welcome in the summer season, purify the spirit and receive blessings.

These rituals, which are based on putting the past behind us and hoping for a brighter future, serve to illustrate the meaning of this night for the Basque population: the end of the old year and the beginning of the new.

In addition to the traditional bonfire, the Saint John tree is also a very important part of this celebration. It is placed in the town's main square and an ikurriña (Basque flag) and a bunch of gifts are tied to the top, available to anyone who can climb up to reach them. Until fairly recently, the Saint John tree was felled by a group of young people from the town, who would "steal" it from somebody else's forest.

Bonfires burning in the town square and farmhouse entrances, the Saint John tree, laurel crosses hung in houses, fields and farmyards, bunches of flowers and hawthorn and ash branches, all serve to lend this special day a profound sense of beauty and spirituality.

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