Hogueres de Sant Joan: your survival guide to Alicante's great festival

If you live in Alicante or along the coast, there's one week of the year you won't forget: the Hogueres de Sant Joan (the Bonfires of St John). Satirical papier-mâché planted all over the city, bangs from morning to night, street parties until dawn, and a climax of flames followed by a communal soaking. It's magnificent, exhausting and unavoidable. Here is how to live it rather than endure it, with an eye on the next edition, in June 2027.

What is it, exactly?

Alicante's great festival, born in 1928 when José María Py, inspired by the Fallas of Valencia, persuaded the city to stage its own ephemeral monuments to draw visitors. The principle is the same: the neighbourhoods put up hogueras, huge satirical sculptures, before burning the lot on the final night. The Alicante version adds what Valencia hasn't got: the sea, bonfires on the beach and a tradition all its own, the banyà, where the firefighters hose down the crowd after the blaze.

The dates and the highlights

The calendar repeats from one year to the next: the main week runs from 20 to 24 June, with a run-up from the 18th.

Also worth seeing: the display of the ninot indultat at the old Lonja de Pescado, where the public vote saves one figurine from the flames each year.

What is a mascletà?

A pyrotechnic show that is above all about sound: a rising sequence of rhythmic blasts you feel in your chest more than you watch. You either love it or flee it, but you have to live it once. In Alicante it happens at Luceros at 2pm: arrive well ahead to be inside the perimeter, and leave sensitive ears (children, dogs) at home.

The survival guide

The noise. Constant firecrackers in the streets, barraca parties until dawn: if you live in central Alicante, sleep with earplugs or plan your nights elsewhere. The traffic. The centre closes gradually and the monuments block junctions: switch to the TRAM and your own two feet. The evening of the 23rd. The whole coast heads down to the sand for the nit de Sant Joan: if you want your beach bonfire, arrive before sunset. The cremà. Ash and smoke: not your best shirt. And stand near the firefighters if you WANT to be soaked by the banyà, far from them if you don't; there's no middle ground.

Flee or stay?

Stay, at least once, for the cremà and its banyà: few Spanish festivals offer catharsis like it. In later years you'll do as many locals do: the mascletà at 2pm, a tactical siesta, and the occasional escape inland when saturation looms, which is exactly what our day trips from the coast are for. And for the rest of the season, our monthly what's-on takes over.

Frequently asked questions

When are the Hogueres de Sant Joan in Alicante? The main week runs from 20 to 24 June, with the mascletà competition at Luceros from 18 June and the cremà on the night of 24-25 June. The dates are the same every year.

What's the difference with the Fallas of Valencia? Same idea (satirical monuments burned at the end), but Alicante adds the sea, beach bonfires on the nit de Sant Joan, and the banyà, the fire-hose soaking of the crowd after the cremà.

What is a mascletà? A daytime pyrotechnic display built on rhythmic explosions rather than colour, felt in the chest. In Alicante it's at Plaza de los Luceros at 2pm; arrive early and protect sensitive ears.

Sources

• Hogueras.com: the official calendar of events
• Spain.info: the Bonfires of San Juan in Alicante
• Alicante Explora: dates and events of the Hogueras

Information verified in July 2026, based on the 2026 edition: the programme repeats at the same dates each year, so confirm the official schedule before the 2027 edition. The Daily Costa Blanca is an AI-assisted publication with human review. Spotted a mistake? Drop us a line and we'll fix it. How we work.