On the second Monday after Easter Sunday, many towns across Valencia, including the regional capital itself, celebrate the festival of San Vicente Ferrer, a martyr who was canonised by Calixtus III and whose festival, in 2024, celebrates his big day on Monday April 8th.
San Vicente Ferrer, one of the patron saints of the city of Valencia, has his feast day on April 5 of each year, although his solemnity and popular festival is always celebrated on the Monday following the second Sunday of Easter.
During the 2024 San Vicente Ferrer Festivities in Valencia, as happens every year, it is customary to visit one of the most beloved Vincentian places: the Birthplace of San Vicente Ferrer, the chapel where “El Pouet de Sant Vicent” is located. In this place, by tradition, children are given a drink “so that they speak quickly, do not suffer from sore throat, do not swear falsely or be blasphemous.”
Vicente Ferrer OP (born in Valencia, Spain, on January 23, 1350 and died in Vannes, France, on April 5, 1419), was a Valencian Dominican whose preaching trips earned him the appreciation of the population of different regions of Europe. Considered by many the most universal Valencian who has ever existed, he is recognised as the greatest source of miracles in the Church and one of the most influential theologians, intellectuals, politicians and philosophers of his time.
For the city of Valencia, San Vicente Ferrer is part of its history and, in addition, he is one of the patron saints of the capital. This is why worship, homage and devotion are paid to him every year by those who follow the stories, highlighting that he is also the main patron saint of the Valencian Community and the ancient Kingdom of Valencia.
Among the most notable events of the 2024 San Vicente Ferrer Festival are the mascletá, the processions or the so-called “milacres”, performances that take place in the different altars that are erected in the different neighbourhoods of the city of Valencia, and some towns, always being presided over by his iconography.
In 2024, Monday 8 April, dia de San Vicente de Ferrer, is a local holiday in Torrevieja, as well as, locally, Albatera, Algorfa, Benijofar, Bigastro, Daya Vieja, and Elche, amongst others.