Why does a village in Spain celebrate New Year's Eve in the midst of summer?

You had better prepare your 12 grapes - whether seedless or not. Also keep the party favours handy and don't overdo it with the sweet treats. And you'd better have written your letter to their majesties the Three Wise Men from the East because you'll have to deliver it. But the ceremonial midnight chimes aren't in August... or are they?

Bérchules, a municipality in Granada province in the Andalucía region of Spain, with a population of just over 600, celebrates New Year's Eve on Saturday 2 August. Residents have been eating grapes at the beginning of August since 1995.

This curious celebration arose as a result of an electricity blackout that the municipality suffered on 31 December 1994 . With the help of some candles, residents ate the grapes as best they could, but it was impossible to follow the traditional chimes and the planned evening of celebrations had to be suspended.

"An untimely power cut at eleven o'clock at night on 31 December left the residents of this town without a party", SUR's sister newspaper ABC published at the time. The article also detailed that "the outage lasted until twelve o'clock noon the following day".

Being left without electricity was no surprise either - it was not the first power blackout this town had suffered. The municipality had been experiencing problems with the electricity supply for some time. But this time was different; the date was too special and, in addition, blackouts always caused significant economic losses for local businesses.

This was the event which made the residents meet to agree on how to combat these unsustainable power issues - demanding immediate solutions from the electricity company. "Faced with such a setback, the residents held an extraordinary plenary session on 2 January, in which unanimously agreed to move the New Year's Eve party to 4 August. At the same time, they sent a complaint to the electricity supply company for the 13-hour outage on such an important occasion," detailed ABC in a 1995 article.

Since then, Bérchules has celebrated New Year's Eve every August, which has become the most eagerly awaited festivity not only by the locals themselves, but tourists too: last year the celebration attracted 8,000 people. They set up nativity scenes and drink cava while watching the parade. So it is not surprising that locals managed to get the Junta de Andalucía to declare it a regional fiesta of tourist interest in 2020.

No one ever imagined that this unpleasant situation would lead to such a positive impact on the village. Since 1995 thousands of people have flocked to the small town in the Alpujarra region of Granada - increasing tourist attraction (and spending) to the area for the celebrations. Asociación Berchulera de Nochevieja en Agosto (Abnea) organises the event in collaboration with Bérchules town hall and the Diputación de Granada provincial authority.

This year's festival begins on Friday 1 August with children's activities, music, a Christmas light competition and unveiling the Christmas market. There is also a New Year's Eve museum, where the history of this particular festivity is shown through a photography exhibition and curious objects that have been collected year after year.

The following day (2 August), is the central focus of the celebrations: New Year's Eve. There is a traditional parade, accompanied by a brass band and the Three Wise Men as they hand out anis and mantecados (Christmas treats) to locals and tourists. The itinerary includes: a flamenco performance; concerts; a street party; and a foam party for the little ones. Traditional midnight grapes are followed by the packed square bursting with joy and wishing each other "feliz medio Año Nuevo" (happy half New Year). Snow cannons transform this iconic scene of celebration into a winter wonderland in the middle of summer.