Why do puerto ricans celebrate dia desan juan?

Question

Why do puerto ricans celebrate dia desan juan?

Answer 1

is an old tradition. most people dont know what it means, they just know it as a day to celebrate.   i have no idea what it means but we go to the beach that night because everyone else is doing it. and it's so much fun. an all night beach partay!!!!

Answer 2

As part of the culture received from Spain, PR celebrate festivities in honor to the Saints of the Catholic Church.   these celebrations involve ceremonies at the Catholic churches and also popular celebrations (not too christians in my humble opinion).  Each town has their own favorite Saint or patron and their own popular festivity to celebrate.  The capital city of San Juan has as you can imagine Saint John as their patron.

Answer 3

PR celebrates noche de san juan.

the reason we celebrate june 23 of every year in name of san juan bautista. actually puerto rico was named by the taino indians boriken and by spaniards san juan bautista. suposely this special night if u go to the beach u will be blessed with beauty, good future, heal any sickness, reproduction in anything u wish for and keep evil spirits away from u and ur family. its a acient civilization ritual that has become a tradition for years. there are certain things people need to do, like take 12 steps backwards and splash in ur back into the ocean water and a few more rituals, in different ways.

Answer 4

because it was when columbus discovered puerto rico

Answer 5

For good luck

Answer 6

PR kept some of the Spanish traditions, dia de San Juan being one of them.  Even though is a US territory you can still see the Spanish influence in music, food, etc.

Answer 7

I tell ya this much, my dad is puerto rican and my mom is italian,  I was borned in Brooklyn but, quickly there after my dad brought us to Puerto Rico, I lived there 'till about I was 13 yrs.  I remember those Dia de San Juan celebrations they used to have there every year, I never knew exactly the main reason of the celebration itself but, I'm sure is a genuine Puerto Rican cultural event based on its history but, I gotta say...those are one of the best "party" events of the year there in my opinion,  everyone goes to the beach at night, there're lights, music, all kinds of food stands all over the shore on top of that, Puerto Rican beaches are prestine,  it's like being in Hawaii but, better.  The only thing that I came to realization after all these years, that at the time as a kid didn't really pay any attention to, was the fact that everyone was carelessly swimming at night.  Now that I think about it, anyone of us could've easily been snatched by a shark, since most sharks are more active at night but, Oh boy, what a party it is...I'm planning on going back for some more...regardless!  lol

Answer 8

Pfft..what are we going to celebrate? Independance day, oh thats right.

Answer 9

We love to party. Seriously it was a custom of Spaniards to celebrate a saint`s day. Traditionally every town or city has a yearly event celebrating their patron saint, they`re called "Fiestas Patronales". The celebrations are held for 1 week with live music, rides,contests, etc. I don`t know if the celebration for San Juan day was ever done in the same manner as the other island towns, how it got to the beach celebration is provably lost in history. Thousands of locals will camp at beaches on San Juan day and at midnight they will throw themselves backwards into the water. It`s suppossedly for good luck for the year. Even pools are used in modern celebration, if you would rather not go to the beach. There are lots of "superstitions" involved with the day and many ways of doing the jump. Some people do 3 round turns and then jump backwards into the water. Others jump backwards into the water 3 times. Another "superstition" is that you may be able to see Cofresi`s coffin, (Cofresi was a local pirate that was hung in San Juan for his crimes, although he was sort of a "Robin Hood" because he gave financial help to the poor). Now that one I had a personal encounter with, so did one of my nieces. We both saw the "coffin" and literally flew out of the water. Since then, I don`t do the San Juan day celebration at all.