Festa de Sao Joao
Hard as it is to believe looking out of the window at the grey perma-drizzle of London, but midsummer’s almost upon us.
And Midsummer’s Eve/St John’s Night/Summer Solstice has, since pagan times, been the date of one of the year’s biggest parties - from the new-age celebrations at Stonehenge to the downright peculiar ‘Frog Dance’ in Sweden.
But one party packs more of a punch than all the others put together: the Festa de Sao Joao. Anyone within a sniff of Portugal’s usually reserved city of Porto should make sure they’re there to see it get turned upside-down by a mad midsummer street party on June 23rd and 24th.
Ostensibly a celebration of the city’s saint’s day (Sao Joao), any religious connotations are overshadowed by a raucous festival.
Porto’s streets are filled with locals progressing through the town carrying leeks and plastic hammers with which to hit any (attractive) passers-by to (somehow?) commemorate the saint’s patronage of lovers.
Hammer Time!
For female travelers, this tends to be funny the first time and mildly annoying the second. By the hundredth time, though, you’ll probably be prepared to throttle the next hammer-wielding Portuguese teenager with an amorous glint in his eye!
The focal point of the party is the main square, Avenida dos Aliados, which becomes a giant marketplace filled with stalls, people and illuminated balloons.
Aside from offering a fascinating slice of local culture, the hastily erected bars, barbecues and live music stages that fill the city guarantee an orgiastic night of eating, drinking and dancing in the streets.
The festivities reach their formal climax with a dramatic fireworks display along the Duoro estuary at midnight.
Porto Fireworks
After the fireworks, though, the party decamps to the Praia dos Ingleses beach, where bonfires are lit, the music’s cranked up and nobody goes home till well after the sun comes up.
With the next day (the day of Sao Joao itself) a public holiday, the city is totally deserted as revelers lie in darkened rooms groaning. In the afternoon, the entertainment returns to the riverfront, this time in the gentler guise of a regatta of the area’s traditional wooden boats.
Oddly, given its scale and vibrancy, Festa de Sao Joao is practically unknown outside of Portugal, but it’s definitely worth a visit to experience one of the liveliest summer festivals – and wildest parties – in Europe.
