Festivals in A Coruña

The Festival of St. John is one of the most important in A Coruña. It takes place on June 23 on the eve of St. John, with a great celebration featuring musical bands, troupes of giant and big-headed dolls, bagpipe bands and many folkloric groups.

They tour the city entertaining visitors and tourists and encouraging them to purchase traditional bouquets of wild flowers.
 

As part of the tradition, these bouquets of flowers are hung in the air so that they can dry and, thus, last all year with the aim of scaring away evil beings and witches, as well as protecting homes.

When night falls, the celebration explodes with the preparation of sardines that invades the entire city with a smell of burnt wood.

The Festival of St. John can gather up to 100,000 people on the coast alone. In addition, the celebration is intense in the streets of all the neighbourhoods, waiting for the arrival of night to light the bonfires. That is why it is called “Noite da queima”.

The popularity of this celebration is so enormous that it was declared a Festival of National Tourist Interest.
 

The Festival of Maria Pita is among the most important to take place during the summer in A Coruña. It is celebrated throughout August with a wide program of activities that include fairs, exhibitions and gastronomic tastings.

In addition, the Festival of Maria Pita offers several traditional activities. Among them are the free concerts that take place in Maria Pita Square with international guests and the Galician Symphony Orchestra.
 

The famous Festival of the Northwest and Festival of Habaneras also take place.

During the festival, there is a reenactment of the historic naval battle of 1589 in which the people of A Coruña, commanded by their heroine Maria Pita, defeated the English pirates led by Francis Drake. This staging, of enormous popularity, is done with fireworks in the Ensenada del Orzán.

Another activity of great tradition and popularity is the Battle of the Flowers, a lively parade of beautifully decorated floats from which confetti and flowers are thrown to the public. There is also an interesting comics exhibition called "Cartoons from the Atlantic" that has been held since 1998 and the Mostrart Crafts Fair.