PHOTO GALLERY: Ancient fire festivals in Pyrenees mountain towns mark Sant Joan

The fire festival season kicked off earlier this month in the Pyrenees mountain towns, and the town of Isil in Pallars Sobirà hosted theirs on Wednesday June 24. 

From June 12 until June 25, villages in and around the Pyrenees mountains host their festival, with unique aspects to each village.

The festivals starts when it gets dark, then a main 'falla', torch, is lit and starts a descent. Hundreds of people watching the 'fallaires', torchbearers, begin to hike down the mountain in front of the town. 

For the town of Isil, each 'fallaires' holds a 'falla', a torch, which is a tree log lit on fire at the end, which weighs anywhere from 20-50kg.

Once they arrive at the base of the mountain they are greeted with a sip of wine, slice of coca and a bouquet of flowers as a sign of gratitude. 

The festivals around the Pyrenees villages take a moment to remember the 'fallaires' who are no longer with them. 

The merriment then continues when the torchbearers throw the logs into a large bonfire, from then 'fallaires' and non-'fallaries' celebrate together. 

This year marks a decade since UNESCO recognized the tradition as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

The designation was granted in December 2015 to 63 Pyrenean villages in Catalonia, Aragon, France, and Andorra, 17 of them in Catalonia.

Ten years on, thanks to this recognition, the number of villages celebrating falles has grown to nearly one hundred. The festival already attracted visitors to these villages, but the UNESCO designation has led to record numbers of attendees each year.