The City Council is celebrating the Night of San Juan in La Rada, featuring the Fireworks Contest and a concert by “La Década Prodigiosa”

The festival will take place on Tuesday, June 23, the eve of Saint John’s Day, starting at 9:00 p.m.

The Estepona City Council announces that next Tuesday, June 23, the eve of San Juan, the traditional “San Juan Night Festival” 2026 will be held at La Rada Beach, near the post office.

San Juan Night will begin at 9:00 p.m. with various performances on the boardwalk and the 46th “Burning of San Juan’s Mustache” Contest, featuring the jury’s tour of the participating bonfires. All of them will be located near the monument to La Peseta.

The contest organized by the City Council will evaluate the theme of the bonfire, artistic quality, ingenuity, tradition, humor, and originality, as well as the atmosphere and popularity of the bonfire. The municipal Festivities Department has established the following prizes: First Prize, €1,000 + trophy; Second Prize, €750 + trophy; Third Prize, €500 + trophy; and fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh prizes, €300 each, amounts shown as gross.

Following this, at around 10:00 p.m., the concert performance by ‘La Década Prodigiosa’ will begin.

Associations and residents construct the well-known “juás”—dolls and figures made of rags and other materials—which express criticism or mockery of well-known figures and are intended to be burned in the bonfire.

The “juás” participating in the contest will be set alight at midnight, at the start of the Night of San Juan, when, following an ancient custom, the people of Estepona gather on the beach to dip their feet in the water. According to tradition, touching the sea water on the night of San Juan brings good fortune for the entire year and wards off bad omens.

The City Council reserves the right to spare any of the “Quemas” entered in the contest that, due to their uniqueness, may be suitable for use in another municipal event.