People averse to loud bangs — sufferers of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, heart disease or nervous dispositions — should get as far away as possible from Catalonia on the 23rd and 24th of June. Unsuspecting Barcelona tourists may assume that they have arrived at a city-wide recreation of the Vietnam war or the filming of an urban warfare scene for a Call of Duty video game, but this annual assult on the ears is in fact the Feast of Sant Joan which coincides with the summer solstice.

The rattling cacophony of fireworks and bangers usually begins during the week before the official celebrations, building to a crescendo on the night of the 23rd. Don’t be unduly alarmed by what sounds like gunfire on every street corner — it’s just local kids having fun — and if they should playfully lob a few coronary-inducing firecrackers into your Metro carriage or under your taxi as you pass by then it is generally considered to be all just part of the fun.

This gleeful enthusiasm for separating oneself from one’s fingers by means of unregulated fireworks is an integral part of Sant Joan and it’s no time or place for anyone remotely interested in health and safety regulations. Parents will in fact affix frames to the heads of their costumed children on the night itself, from which to launch rockets or spark-spraying incendiary devices. It’s certainly an unforgettable sight, whether you want to or not.

Described as the ‘Nit de Foc’ or ‘Night of Fire’, Sant Joan is one of the biggest parties of the year. Young people (and, judging by the smell, the terminally incontinent) typically head to the beach early to stake out a spot where they can enjoy beer, impromptu drumming and guitar performances, the smell of ‘herbal tobacco’ and a feel-good atmosphere with friends. It can get boisterous later on which is worth bearing in mind if you are there with children. There are also, inevitably, a lot of loud bangers of all kinds.

Every bar in the city which has a terrace will be full so book a table if you want a street-side view of proceedings. Restaurants everywhere, but especially those near the beach, will be ridiculously busy and booking is essential. Many barrios (districts) of the city will have their own celebrations organised with fireworks, barbeques, beer on tap and hopefully a waiting ambulance.

A popular Sant Joan experience is to find or host a private party in a flat with a view. Enjoying food and drink close enough to see the fireworks but far enough away to have a conversation is the perfect combination and you will see people partying through until dawn on every roof terrace in the city.

If you want to try the traditional food of Sant Joan, the anise-flavoured pastry known as the ‘coque’ which comes in both sweet and savoury variations then it is best to do so in the week before the celebrations. The 24th is a public holiday (though wasted this year as it falls on a Sunday) and, as everyone will have gone to bed after sunrise, bars, restaurants and bakeries will be closed and the only people on the streets will be cleaners, sweeping up the beer bottles, dead fireworks and liberated digits that usually carpet the city. The toilet-fresh city beaches will close at 6am to be swept clean of similar debris. If you need to get up early on the 24th then industrial-strength earplugs should be purchased now because no-one here sleeps on Sant Joan — and no-one really  wants to.