Guide to Fiestas in the Balearic Islands

Fiestas from the Balearics including Sant Antoni Abat, Sant Joan, Sant Joan Pelos, Romeria de Sant Marçal and Our lady of the sea.

Sant Antoni Abat – 17 January – Mallorca and Ibiza

This Fiesta is celebrated with parades and the blessing of animals all over Mallorca and in Sant Antoni in Ibiza.

Sant Joan – 24 June – Ciutadella, Menorca

The horse plays a major part in Menorca’s festivals. In the streets and squares of Ciutadella on the 24th of June, the Day of St John the Baptist, elegantly dressed riders put their horses through ritualized medieval manoeuvres. The fiesta reaches a climax when the horses rear up on their hind legs and the jubilant crowds swarm around them trying to hold them up with their hands. Similarly, the annual fiesta in Sant Lluis, which takes place at the end of August, sees many of the locals taking to the street on horseback.

More about Sant Joan here

Sant Joan Pelos – 24 June – Felanitx, Mallorca

As part of this fiesta, a man is dressed in sheepskins to represent John the Baptist.

Romeria de Sant Marçal – 30 June- Sa Cabeneta, Mallorca

A feature of this fiesta is a market selling siurells, primitive Mallorcan whistles.

Our Lady of the Sea – 16 July, Formentera

The island’s main fiesta honours the Virgen del Carmen, patroness of fishermen, with a flotilla of fishing boats.

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