What is Noche de San Juan? Puerto Ricans all over the world celebrate la Noche de San Juan – an eve of a feast for Saint John, the Baptist's birth. Unlike other festivities around the world, in Puerto Rico, this celebration -which occurs two days before the summer solstice- marks a holiday spent at the beach. The tradition goes that at the stroke of midnight, people take at least three backward plunges – though some do seven or 12 dives, to rid life of all negativities. In Holyoke, we host a Festival with water activities for all ages to do a similar feel of the tradition. This is also a celebration of our partnership with Beyond Walls Lynn and the 7 large scale murals set to be be painted before the festival.