The amazon, one of the most joyful places in Peru, is made up of different departments and provinces that are always ready to welcome visitors with great joy and be sure that they will make you enjoy your stay.
One of the biggest regional festivals and expected every year by all the provinces of the jungle, is the festival of ‘San Juan’.
There are no better celebrations than those that take place in the Peruvian jungle and you are never closer to nature than when you celebrate with it.
While you are traveling to Peru you may need to keep communication or a translation app. That’s why you may need to use one of our mobile phone plans for tourists to have a tourist SIM card. So that you can dance and enjoy at 100% the festival of San Juan without any worries with PeruSIM.
Therefore, so you can enjoy this colorful festival of San Juan, we will tell you everything you need to know about the biggest celebration in the Peruvian Amazon :
When is the feast of San Juan celebrated?
Every June 24 this festivity is celebrated because it pays homage to San Juan Bautista, patron saint of the departments of San Martin, Loreto and Ucayali.
And it is because of the faith of its inhabitants that with great joy and fervor every year they dedicate this impressive feast to him.
According to a new bill, it has been declared that from 2022, this date will be a non-working holiday for the departments of Ucayali, Loreto, San Martin, Amazonas, Madre de Dios and Huanuco.
What is the history of the feast of San Juan?
To talk about this festivity it’s needed to go back to colonial times, when a group of missionaries named Saint John the Baptist as the patron saint of the Peruvian Amazon, in commemoration of his birth.
And since this biblical character was responsible for the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River, until now there is a very strong connection between the feast and water, so it is celebrated in fountains, rivers and lakes.
In the early years, the religious ceremony was accompanied by gatherings that were characterized by the warmth and joy of the jungle, where music and dances were present. In the 20th century, this festivity became official and is now celebrated in many parts of the jungle integrating the best of each one: gastronomy, dance, handicrafts, history and faith.
Where is the feast of San Juan celebrated?
It is celebrated in different cities and towns of the Peruvian jungle, but some of the favorite tourist places are Loreto, Madre de Dios, Ucayali, Tingo Maria and San Martin. Below, we tell you how it is lived in each of these departments so that you can choose where to celebrate the next Feast of San Juan.
Madre de Dios
Madre de Dios is home to endless forests, winding rivers and abundant natural life. It is a reserve of flora and fauna, as well as a refuge for endangered species such as the maned wolf and the marsh deer.
But it is also home to some of the best festivals of the Peruvian Amazon as the feast of San Juan, an important religious celebration held in many cities of Peru, and that presents special devotion in the Peruvian Amazon.
The central day of this festivity is June 24, a date in which different events of both religious and regional character take place.
From the 23rd – the beginning of the celebrations – different tourist routes are planned that offer visitors spectacular routes among which a free tour of the Charachamayoc Complex stands out.
Also part of the celebrations are the sports activities in which the different teams of the area participate and the religious commemorations.
Ucayali
Located in the central jungle of Peru (Amazonia) and covering three natural floors: low jungle, high jungle and the jungle eyebrow, is the magnetic department of Ucayali. This Amazonian city is also known for enjoying like no other one of the most emblematic festivities of our jungle: the feast of San Juan.
It is worth mentioning that, in this place, this festivity takes on special importance due to the symbolic character given by the millenary relationship that unites it with water, a vital element in the entire Amazon.
During the feast of San Juan, Ucayali celebrates with typical bands and the best of the regional gastronomy.
It should also be noted that traditionally, in the days prior to the Feast of St. Juan, the Regional Fair of St. Juan is held in honor of the patron saint of the Amazon.
Loreto
The mighty Amazon River, the longest in the world, crosses this region, linking villages that inhabit the heart of the jungle.
In Loreto we can find exotic landscapes such as the Pacaya Samiria National Reserve, home to pink dolphins, and the Allpahuayo Mishana National Reserve and forests that grow on white sand and have a very diverse fauna and flora.
This Peruvian department also celebrates the feast of San Juan in a special way, with different rituals that have the devotees of the area as protagonists. One of them is “the blessed bath”, which is performed as purification one day before the central date in the rivers of the locality.
On the central date of the festivity, the whole town congregates in San Juan, a place that hosts the masses in honor of the main saint of the celebration.
San Martin
To speak of San Juan in all the Amazonian towns is to speak of the big party, of jubilation, of pandilla and juanes (the food that identifies the towns of the Amazon).
However, while in the other towns the party lasts two or three days, in Moyobamba, it lasts several days, becoming the Amazonian capital of the juanes and the ‘pandilla’.
Precisely in the framework of the celebrations of the feast of St. Juan and St. Pedro, the Tourist Week is celebrated.
On these dates, a series of festive and gastronomic activities take place: ‘pandillaje’ contests, typical prints, juane and “mishquina” (a special, typical dressing with its own ingredients that give color and flavor to the juane) and the traditional Corpus Christi, one of the largest religious and gastronomic events in Peru, in which the most representative typical dishes and drinks are exhibited.
It is also important to add that on June 24, the central day, the “Baño Bendito” (Blessed Bath) is held, an activity that is perhaps unique in the world.
In it, thousands of dancers from different traditional organizations, neighborhood clubs, public and private institutions, groups of friends and everyone who wants to enjoy the party, from 4.00 am, take their place in the Plaza de Armas to start dancing under the watchful eye of strict juries.
Tingo María
Located on the banks of the Huallaga River, Tingo Maria is considered one of the gateways to the Peruvian jungle.
The city is home to a biological diversity typical of the high jungle region, as well as a very particular scenic beauty.
However, in addition to its captivating natural beauty, Tingo Maria is also home to one of the most incredible celebrations of the feast of San Juan Bautista.
In this Peruvian city, the celebration takes on a symbolic character, because, as in Ucayali, water is celebrated as the central element of the Amazon. During these days of celebration, you can listen to local bands and taste typical dishes of the region.
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