This year’s Sanjoaninas festivities will beat the record number of popular marches. A total of 42 adult marches have been registered, 38 of which will parade on the night of St. John’s Day.
“We currently have 38 adult marches registered for the night of June 23rd, and we have four adult marches planned for June 24th in addition to the four children’s marches registered,” said Guido Teles, vice president of Angra do Heroísmo City Council, adding that “it’s a record number.”
According to the mayor, as happened last year, all the marches were allowed to parade on the first day, but some chose to parade after the children’s marches on the 24th.
“We’re going to have a long night of marches, but I’m sure it will be very lively,” he said.
In 2023, 35 marches were registered for St. John’s night, but two ended up not parading until the following day. The parade didn’t end until 5:30.
When asked about the length of the parade this year, Guido Teles said that the difference in the number of marches “isn’t that big.”

The parade rules stipulate that “there must be an interval between exits of every 10 minutes, and the choreography in front of the Igreja da Sé must last a maximum of 3 minutes”. “The total parade time may not exceed 50 minutes”.
“If the exits are every 10 minutes, we can maintain an interesting speed in the parade of marches, which then allows the others to finish at a reasonable time. That’s fundamental. What we ask is that they follow last year’s example,” he said.
11 marches are planned from outside the island: five from São Miguel, two from Graciosa, one from Faial, one from São Jorge, one from Pico, and one from Tulare (Angra’s oldest sister city), from the San Joaquim Valley in the United States of America.
A march from Madeira was also planned, but its participation has since been canceled.
“It’s very positive. Once again, we’re going to have a lot of people coming from abroad, who only have the support of the council with transportation from the airport and accommodation and 500 euros for the accompanying philharmonic. All the other expenses will stay on the island,” said Guido Teles.


According to the mayor, the possibility of splitting the marches over two nights, as in other editions, has not been considered.
“This year, the 24th is the day before a working day and, on the other hand, last year this issue was put to the marchers and the vast majority prefer to go out on the 23rd,” he explained.
For Guido Teles, the night of São João “is made by the people,” and “there’s nothing better than keeping all the freedom” to decide if they want to participate and when.
“I think this should be self-regulated. I don’t see any problem with everyone who wants to take part signing up and then, depending on the luck of the draw, if they stay for a very late hour they have to choose whether they want to leave very late or if they prefer not to leave this year. It’s the best way to resolve what is a night marked by popular initiative, by participation in the festivities,” he said. In 2023, the parade on St. John’s night included 33 groups and ended at 5.30 a.m.

In Diário Insular, José Lourenço, director/publisher

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