VEGLIA DI SAN GIOVANNI
Saturday, 27 June
Circolo Culturale Contadino di Colognole
Via del Palagio in Colognole 42 (Colognole, Pontassieve, Italy)
An event organised by La Leggera as part of the Tramontana Network project, co-funded by the European Union’s Creative Europe programme.
An event dedicated to the feast of St John the Baptist in Tuscany. According to local tradition, the eve of 24 June and the night of 24 to 25 June are marked by legends and rituals that are still alive in the memory and practices of local people.
On the eve, it is customary to pick seasonal flowers and petals (mainly roses), leave them to soak in a bowl of water throughout the night of 23 to 24 June, and then use this scented water on the morning of the 24th to wash one’s face.
Another practice, still alive and closely tied to 24 June, is the gathering of the flowers of St John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum), locally called “erba di San Giovanni” or “delle streghe”, to make an olive-oil ointment that is effective against sunburn. Likewise, walnuts still in their green husks, used for steeping in alcohol to make the liqueur known as “nocino”, must, according to tradition, be picked on the night of 24 June.
The custom of the “St John’s fires”, lit that night on farms scattered across the countryside, where St John’s wort was burnt for good luck, has now disappeared, replaced by fireworks in town.
La Leggera has decided to take up this traditional occasion by organising an ecoprint workshop open to all, using local plant species. The workshop will also be a moment of collective sharing and exchange about the traditions and legends linked to this night, historically considered magical.