Museu de fogueres

There is a major festival here in Alicante called “The Hogueras de San Juan” which translates to “The Bonfires of Saint John“. The tradition and history of this particular festival is very interesting. It originates from the tradition of burning useless objects with the arrival of the summer solstice. This is a popular festival and is celebrated in many cities and towns in Spain as well as around most of the world. In Alicante they have been celebrating the festival since 1928 with large effigies like the one pictured below from the early 1930’s.

One of the features of the festival is the creation of giant effigies that are made with cardboard, paper mache and wood. An identical smaller version is also made and all effigies are judged. The first place winner has their smaller identical effigy version saved and put into the Museu the fogueres. The remainder of the effigies including the smaller versions are then burnt on the night of June 24th in a major festival.

Last evening we went to check out the Museu de Fogueres in Alicante. The museum is amazing with effigies of all sizes and shapes on display. Some of the displayed effigies are detailed with realistic renderings, while others are more whimsical in style.

IMG_20160401_184634314 — One of the beautiful effigies on display at the Museum

The festival in Alicante began in 1928 and each year there is a winner added to the museum. It was hard to select only a few photos to show you because they are all fantastic. I have a few of our favourites below.

This man and women are on display at the main entrance to the museum. They are the largest of the effigies on display and are approximately 15 to 18 feet high.

IMG_20160401_191035834_HDR — Ray standing beside one of the effigies.

The pictures below are from the same effigy at different angles. There was so much detail it was hard to show it all in one photo. The size of the effigy was full scale with a desk, typewriter other items and stood about 5 or 6 feet high.