The Pyrenees host summer solstice fire festivals every year during the summer solstice season, when the sun is at its zenith. The festival is older than the Christian era when in Phoenicia and Syria, it was held to remember the death of Sumerian king Tammuz, a figure that represented winter.
Festival celebrations consist of popular folklore and communal dining as examples of ways to re-establish social ties and promote belonging, identity, and continuity. Some municipalities assign specific roles to people. The mayor might light the first beacon, a priest might bless or light the fire.
Another tradition is that the man who has recently been married lights the fire and leads the descent to the village. Young unmarried girls will often meet the torchbearers with wine and sweet pastries. People will collect embers or ashes to protect their homes or garden.
It is common for neighborhoods to cook together and for many families to prepare food at the same time. A network of associations and local institutions sustains the element among local communities. The family is the most important locus of transmission, where people are able to preserve their heritage.
The festivals nowadays tend to be more focused on partying, but the traditional side with legends, rituals, and magic still play an important role in the communities. It's a chance for the communities to strengthen social links and the sense of belonging to the community. It also serves as a social way of coming together.
And with more and more young people moving away, and the oldest passing, there are ghost towns in which fire festival traditions are not being transmitted. Over the past few years, it has been observed that the tradition has begun to disappear in many towns.
In addition, fire festivals are currently promoted in most French Pyrenees cities in universities. Students are being pushed to write their dissertation or thesis on the subject. As a result, their main means of transmission is still oral. This is a threat to the future of the fire festivals since the festival has no linked commercial event. And even though they are marketed to tourists, they are not meant for thousands to attend.