FOGUERES 2024 | Countdown continues with fiesta book presentation

The countdown to the biggest party of the year continues with the presentation of the official fiesta book, a thick tome which features not only the full programme of the midsummer celebrations but also showcases the young people who make up this year’s protagonists, Quintà 2024 A Cabassaes and those groups which are celebrating special anniversaries this year.

The celebrations will be taking place between Friday 7th June and Monday 24th June – the full programme can be viewed here – and this year is particularly special as the Fogueres de Sant Joan de Xàbia will be celebrating its 75th anniversary and a whole day has been set aside to mark this special occasion which includes a mass, a flower offering, an anniversary dinner, and a colourful mascletà.

As always, the book contains the official images Quintà 2024 A Cabassaes, the young people who will be the centre of attention for much of the celebrations, as well as stunning official photos of the Fogueres Queen 2024 Àngela Tachó Llidó and her ladies-in-waiting Nahir Sánchez Lora and Nerea Vidal Alentado and the Quintà presidents Júlia Roselló Vallés and Jaime Valverde Ortuño.

The book also features the official photos of the Junior Queen Claudia García Rodríguez and her ladies-in-waiting Llucía Bisquert Cholbi and Gisela Esquinas Devesa and of the Junior Commision and the more than 110 youngsters who make up the Children’s Court.

As always, the programme opens with the two presentation evenings of the Junior Courts and the Quintà 2024 on Friday 7th June and Saturday 8th June respectively. However, this year there will be an extra presentation evening to mark the 75th anniversary on Sunday 9th June featuring the Queens and Presidents from over the years.

The official opening of the festivities – El Pregón – will be taking place during the evening of Thursday 13th June when the Fogueres Queens Ángela Tachoó and Claudia García will be lighting the symbolic rocket in front of a packed church square to kick off the celebrations.

There are also some changes in the programme from recent years, reflecting the desire to mark the 75th anniversary, and the president of the Fogueres Commission, Carmen Andrés, explained that these special celebrations will be taking place over the final few days of the fiesta to take advantage of the weekend, which has resulted in some acts being moved from their usual position, such as the traditional parade of the Quintà 2024 and Children’s Court to visit the sectors of the town – Thiviers, Freginal, the port and the Arenal – which this year will take place on Friday 14th June. The councillor responsible for Fiestas, Mavi Perez, added that there are still events to be revealed within the commemorative programme.

Perhaps the most obvious change is the removal of the traditional midday parade from Placeta del Convent to the bull arena during the Día de les Quintades (Saturday 15th June). Instead, the Commission is encouraging the quintades to head straight to the bar at the bull arena for the normal fun and games. As always, the bull-running takes centre stage during the first half of the festivities with four days between Sunday 16th June and Wednesday 19th June.

The Fogueras will be erected on Wednesday 19th June. Josep Sanchís is once again the artist which has prepared the two statues with the Foguera Central in the Plaza de la Constitución representing 75 years of the Fogueres de Sant Joan whilst the Foguera Infantil in the Placeta del Convent showcasing a fun tour of the farm.

Saturday 22nd June will be the day that will mark the 75th anniversary with the participation of the Queens, Ladies-in-Waiting and Presidents from over the years. There will be a commemorative procession through the historic centre followed by a special mass to Sant Joan and serenading of the representatives by the Tuna de Xàbia. A communal dinner will be held after which there will be a colour mascletà in the Plaza de la Constitución.

One late addition which does not appear in the programme in the book due to its late arrangement is that the flower offerings on Friday 21st June and Saturday 22nd June will be made to both Sant Joan and Jesús Nazareno. It was until 2009 that the tradition was to make an offering to the treasured image in the blue-domed chapel of Calvario but was later moved to the Plaza de la Iglesia. During the 50th anniversary celebrations in 1999, an offering was made to both images and it was decided with the agreement of the Nazarene Brotherhood that the image will be making another pilgrimage down into the town before the fiestas begin to experience this historic moment for the Fogueres de Sant Joan de Xàbia.