Benimagrell festivities
They are celebrated in Benimagrell around the patron saint’s festival, San Roque. They are organized by the Benimagrell festival commission in collaboration with the Sant Joan City Council. The festival usually coincides with the weekend after San Roque, whose day is August 16 and throughout the weekend, festive activities of great popular tradition take place.
Currently the events begin on Thursday night with the announcing proclamation usually given by someone linked to Benimagrell, Sant Joan d’Alacant or its Huerta. Next, the announcement of the festivities and correfocs along Benimagrell street takes place. Friday afternoon is dedicated to the little ones with activities and games organized by the girl herself. Sant Roc Festival Commission and at night the Costume parade accompanied by the Band of the Peace Musical Society where neighbors and visitors dressed in various themes tour Benimagrell. Next is the Foam Festival. On Saturday the day begins with the celebration of the paella contest, where festive and cultural associations of the municipality share an evening of conviviality and enjoy the typical dish. At night the Benimagrell square is flooded with people to enjoy the “Musical Comic Revue” which year after year is programmed with a large influx of public. At the end of the mobile disco and the party continues.
Sunday’s celebration begins with the awakening announcing the big day of celebrations. The solemn mass in the hermitage, sung by the Orfeón Sant Joan, occupies the center of the morning and later, the offering is celebrated, a colorful and festive event that runs along the main street of Benimagrell and ends in the historic hermitage. To conclude the morning events, a popular lunch is served for attendees. In the afternoon, the procession takes place with the images of the Virgin of Carmen and San Roque, a religious parade in which festive and cultural entities of Sant Joan and numerous neighbors participate. Once the procession is over, a fireworks display takes place that puts an end to the celebrations.
Did you know that...?
Isidro Buades Ripoll published a book about the proclamations of the Benimagrell festivities, collecting all those pronounced between 1992 and 2002.
For many years, the Benimagrell cornet and drum band competition was held coinciding with the festivities, with the special participation of the traditional Benimagrell Cornet and Drum Band, currently defunct.
Saint Roch is one of the most venerated saints in the Catholic world during the 15th century, born in Montpellier and dedicated his life to pilgrimage. Since his death he was invoked against the plague, like Saint Sebastian, and also against phylloxera, the terrible disease that affects vineyards, therefore he achieved great veneration in the Modern Age and in rural environments such as the Alicante Huerta. He is represented as a pilgrim, accompanied by a dog that accompanies him and licks his wounds.