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.
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