The past two days in Barcelona were epic. It was the Festival de Sant Joan, and at our last University of Dreams seminar, we were warned about it, it is that epic. Tali told us that on Sant Joan, the only thing that happened was that people got drunk and played with fire, and that it was probably in our best interest to stay in the residence if we were prone to nocturnal troublemaking.

On the Beach During Sant Joan

Actually, after hearing that, I admit I felt a little apprehensive and started thinking about what movie I could watch or project I could work on in my room to hide from the danger. Eventually, though, after hearing  favorable opinions from others who had experienced Sant Joan in all its glory, I decided that I would probably regret it if I stayed in.

I didn’t have any definite plans until the night before Sant Joan, when I got an e-mail from a friend of a friend who lives in Barcelona and had found out through our mutual friend that I was living here too. His name is Brandon, and he invited me to come to a Sant Joan party at his girlfriend’s house. I responded immediately with a “yes.”

I got ready and left the residence around 11 p.m., because that is when you go out in Barcelona and especially on Sant Joan.

On my walk to the FGC station, I was literally surrounded on all sides by fireworks – in the distance, granted, but still quite loud and occasionally frightening. The words “Fourth of July on crack” came to mind.

Still, I braved the booms and hopped on the train, and before long I was buzzing the door of the girl I had never met who was the girlfriend of a boy I had never met but that knew my friend back in Georgia (this is the way the world works when you’re an “expat”). They let me in, and I was thrilled when I saw the mix of people and heard the great music.

There was coca, a bread that looks kind of like a Christmas fruitcake but tastes totally different; it’s tradition to eat it on Sant Joan, and oh boy, we ate it. Once we had consumed all the food and drink and gotten our fill of dancing, we made a grand exodus from the apartment to walk to the beach for the real festivities.

Basically, the Nit de Sant Joan is an originally pagan celebration of the arrival of the summer solstice, and the way it is celebrated, as Tali said, is by drinking a lot and playing with – and in – fire. The heat (no pun intended) of the Barcelona celebration takes place at the beach. There are beach bonfires built for children to jump over, there are fireworks, firecrackers, and lunatics running around barefooted through the sand with lighters.

Totally worth it as long as you don’t get burned, which thankfully, I did not!

Kelly Doyle-Mace was a runner-up for the 2009 World Traveler Internship and chronicled her prize for the STA Travel Blog – a spot as a University of Dreams Intern at BCN Week in Barcelona, Spain.