If there is a Major Festival easy to memorize in Catalonia, it is, without a doubt, that of Sant Joan Despí. I'll give you a hint: it is always celebrated among bonfires, firecrackers, coca, and sparklers. You've got it, right?
The Sant Joan Despí Major Festival integrates the eve into its program and prepares almost a whole week of activities, concerts, and workshops to celebrate the municipality and everyone who makes it up. It is one of those festivals where local celebration and one of the most magical nights of the Catalan calendar go hand in hand.
However, the fact that Sant Joan is part of the Major Festival has been subject to debate in the past. But not because of the confluence between the two festivals, but because the end of June coincided with the period of harvesting the fields. For this very reason, the date was modified and the celebration was moved to August 29, 30, and 31 until 1970, the year in which the City Council decided to recover the original date.
The origin of the Major Festival
The first documented major festivals date back to the 19th century. Leisure activities such as races or football matches were organized, and popular dances were held with performances by local entities such as the Cor de Flora and the Esbart Dansaire. The typical food most often found at the festival was roasted chicken with raisins, prunes, and pine nuts, accompanied by stuffed apples.
Those celebrations combined tradition, coexistence, and associative life, three ingredients that still today form part of the festive DNA of Sant Joan Despí.
A need that leads to new movements
Despite its extensive history, some groups in the municipality have pointed out in recent years the need to strengthen the associative and cultural fabric of the city, as well as to expand the proposals aimed at young people.
In this context, initiatives such as Despinçats have emerged, a self-managed entity born in 2023 to offer a space for young people, who have integrated into the municipal celebration with the creation of an Alternative Major Festival. The proposal, which takes place in a parking lot (more alternative, impossible, right?), held its first edition in 2023, the same year the entity was born, and since then they have brought artists of the caliber of PAWN Gang or Senyor Oca.
Another movement that responds to this desire to promote the associative fabric of the municipality is the impulse of the first Cultural Entourage of Sant Joan Despí. The initiative will bring together about fifteen local groups and entities in a festive route to highlight popular Catalan culture.
Its promoters explain that the project is born from the need to reinforce collective identity and generate a greater sense of belonging. The procession aims to become a new shared symbol, capable of connecting citizens with their own cultural expressions.
Unlike Despinçats, who organize activities throughout the year, this proposal is entirely designed to be part of the Festa Major and, specifically, to kick it off.
The 2026 program
And so it will be! On June 18, the Cultural Procession will kick off the Festa Major 2026, which will fill streets and squares with more than seventy activities until June 24.
The big name on the concert poster has been taken by the Mataró duo The Tyets, who will visit Sant Joan Despí in the middle of their tour for their latest album, 'Café pels més cafeteros'. The concert will take place on Saturday, June 20, in Fontsanta Park. Following them closely is an artist we've heard many times before, but never like now: Greta, twin sister and backing vocalist of Mushkaa, becomes the protagonist of the show to present her solo project.
Among the featured performances are also Los Mustang, a pioneering rock cover band, and the musical show Versión Imposible, which repeats in the festive program.
Beyond the concerts, the Festa Major displays that characteristic atmosphere of popular celebrations: fairs, meals, family activities, meeting spaces, and the traditional "xiringuitos" of entities and political parties, which turn the streets into a great space for coexistence.
It is precisely this mix of popular culture, music, associativism, and street life that makes the Festa Major of Sant Joan Despí an increasingly rich and diverse celebration. The growth of entities, the emergence of new initiatives, and the incorporation of new festive elements draw a festival in constant evolution, but deeply rooted in the territory.
Between the flame of the eve, the massive concerts, and the drive of the associative fabric, Sant Joan Despí faces a new edition of its Festa Major, reclaiming culture as a space for encounter and collective construction.
Do you dare to discover it?
