Two Mediterranean Summer Festivals

Summer festivals in the Mediterranean are fun and exciting to attend. The Festo de Sao Joao in Portugal is a grand celebration, while the ancient Ayia Elleni rituals in Greece are intriguing and interesting to watch. Attending a festival can give your luxury Mediterranean holiday an interesting twist.

Festo de Sao Joao

Midsummer festivals in the Mediterranean are momentous occasions. One of the most entertaining is the Festo de Sao Joao in Porto, Portugal. If you incorporate this festival into your Mediterranean holiday, you are sure to experience the Portugese culture and enjoy yourself. Celebrated in midsummer to remember Sao Joao (Saint John), the patron saint of Porto, this entertaining festival involves a giant street party. A night of eating, drinking, dancing and general festivities is what you will be in for if your holiday in the Mediterranean takes you to Porto for the summer solstice.

The worship of Sao Joao is essentially a Christian festival, but it is thought that the festival is pagan in origin, being an adaptation of pagan summer solstice rituals. The churches are decorated and candles are lit all around, and people take to the streets on the longest day of the year. A summer Mediterranean holiday would be ideal during this time, with the long days allowing for even more time to be spent on the beach.

There are three main areas in Porto where grand celebrations take place. At Avenida dos Aliadas you can wander through the stalls set up in the roads, where the whole area becomes a traffic-free zone. Stages are erected for live music, and your Mediterranean holiday will take on a very festive feel if you are in Avenida dos Aliadas for the festival.

Another great area to go to celebrate the festival is the Duoro riverfront and the Praca da Ribeira area. The party in this area takes on a distinctly local feel, adding a flavour of history and culture to your luxury holiday in the Mediterranean. With live music, bars, restaurants and a grand firework display to top it all off, this is a great way to celebrate Sao Joao. For the wild side of the party, head to Foz do Douro, where a giant beach party awaits you, in the true partying style of a Mediterranean holiday.

Ayia Elleni

One of the most interesting festivals to attend when on a summer Mediterranean holiday is the Ayia Elleni which takes place in north-east Greece, near the Greek Macedonian town of Serres. This celebration occurs in a small village called Ayia Elleni, where the villagers dance across a bed of piping hot coals. This dance is an ancient, probably pagan ritual called Anasternaria, and is to behold. This will certainly add something different to your average luxury Mediterranean holiday.

The festival occurs at the end of May, and a bonfire is lit during the day, being left to burn down to the embers. In the evening, the local women dance over the smouldering embers barefoot, without burning their feet. While you will not be allowed to participate, it is intriguing to behold this ancient ritual.

There are a number of exciting festivals to attend throughout summer, where you can combine days spent on the beach with the local culture when on a Mediterranean holiday.