The Menorcans love to party and with festivals and fiestas taking place in every month of the year thy have plenty of reasons to celebrate. Festivals range from traditional religious festivals and saints days through to more modern festivities that celebrate local music and the arts. All festivals are suitable for all the family.

Wherever celebrations are taking place you are sure to see the Menorcan horse. The horse is a particularly important emblem of Menorca, with the special Menorcan breed having been carefully bred to create an elegant shape and distinct black colouring.

As well as traditional dishes and handmade cakes, sweets and treats, you will find plenty of refreshments at all Menorcan celebrations. A signature drink at festivities is the “gin amb llimonada” cocktail. This is a delicious mixture of gin and lemonade or lemon juice. Also called “pomada” in several villages of Menorca.

The biggest festival that takes place on the island celebrates the patron saint Saint John. On the 23rd and 24th June in the town of Ciutadella, Sant Joan, to give him his Menorcan name, is celebrated with locals dressed in traditional costumes, bands playing and the Menorcan horses putting on a show.

During the Menorca holiday season the towns come alive with the fiestas. The Spanish passion for horses is brought to life enliven with celebrations of music, costume and jubilation, a spectacle that you should not miss on your Menorca holidays.

Every year Menorca becomes a country of colour and celebration during the national public holidays in Menorca and the summer fiesta season. The annual cycle of Menorca holidays and fiestas begins with the Festival of Sant Joan towards the end of June, in the town of Ciutadella. This festival weekend is the largest of the island’s celebrations with towns around the countryside hosting their own regional versions throughout the Menorcan holiday season.

On June the 23rd, the locals (and visitors from across the island) pour out from their Menorca villas in their thousands for days of dance and procession in the Ciutadella streets under strings of lights and paper bunting. The Spanish passion for horses is brought to life in a series of horse trials and parades, leading up to tests of riding skill. Usually, the riders wear the classic Spanish riding uniform: immaculate white trousers and shirt, with a riding jacket, boots and classic Spanish