June 23, 2026 at – 16:04
The San Juan festival is one of the most traditional and popular celebrations in Paraguay. It is celebrated every June 24 in honor of the patron saint of the city of San Juan Bautista, the capital of the department of Misiones, located in the southeast of the country. In the following note we tell you what its origins are and how it arrived in the country.
The museologist and cultural manager Walter Fernando Díaz Ayalaknown by his pseudonym Fernandito Yaguarónspoke about the origins of the traditional festival of San Juan which was introduced into our country during the colonial era by the Spanish.
Although in Paraguay it has adapted to customs, Guaraní language and current situationstill combines religious elements and Paraguayan traditions at the same time.
Historical context and fire as a central element of the San Juan festival
“The festival of San Juan It comes precisely as part of the religious traditions that come with the missionaries of the different orders and meets the local culture, with the indigenous traditions properly,” Díaz explained.
“It is a festival as old as humanity itself and it is an interesting mix of diverse elements that make a very striking, very beautiful encounter, because the fire It is one of the elements that constitute the center of the celebration of the festival of San Juan”, he pointed out.
“The fire, the stove, the lightbecause we celebrate the time of darkness, we are now in winter, in the dark time, in the cold and the festival of San Juan It is like preparing yourself to resist that winter, that winter,” he details.
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Games and meals in San Juan
Fire is also a central part of the celebration games that are typical of European traditions, the museologist explained, “there is a lot of fire, the tatá ári jehasa, the tatá ball, the bull lamp, the Judas kai.”
Regarding food, he pointed out that it is an element that was integrated by part of the Paraguayan tradition itself. ”The meals, above all, become syncretized and amalgamated with local food.“, he highlighted. “Our own food was entering the recipe book, the European menu, which was totally different,” he added.
The feast of San Juan today
Currently, the festival of San Juan is one of the most important celebrations in Paraguay. The festivities begin on June 23 with “St. John’s Eve” and continue until June 24, the day of the main festival.
“Today is a commercial party“Sometimes it is just a festival and a food fair, other times it is not even a festival, just street food fairs, but the element of essentiality with the theme of children and typical games has changed a lot today, in the modern festival of San Juan,” he noted.
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Don’t lose tradition
Finally, Fernando Diaz He reflected on his desire that traditions and the importance of what this festival represents for the culture of our country are not lost.
“Above all things we follow preserving the elements that mark and identify the partylike the fire, the campfire, that we continue cooking the typical foods of its time, especially those based on starch and cassava,” he said.
“Let the game be vindicated, the game with the children, return to the tata ball, prepare the toro lamp, have the yvyra yes, even if it is short,” he expressed.
He assured that all these elements “are very important, they are fundamental, because They remind us of our roots and allow us to keep our memories alive.”.
This festival is a sample of the rich and varied Paraguayan culture and an opportunity for Paraguayans and tourists to share and enjoy the traditions and customs of our country.
