How do people celebrate Saint John the Baptist’s feast day?

In the United States, there isn’t a particular custom for Saint John the Baptist’s feast day. Though it isn’t a Holy Day of Obligation, it would always be of merit to attend Holy Mass to honor a saint, especially on their feast days.

In many countries and cultures, especially ones with long Catholic histories, people have customs and ways of celebrating feasts. For example, in Europe, St. John’s birth is commonly celebrated by “Saint John’s Day.” This celebration marks both Midsummer and Saint John’s birthday, which are six months before the birth of Christ. Among the most unusual occurs in the Nueva Ecija province of the Philippines, where residents of Bibiclat village cover themselves in mud, dried banana leaves, vines, and twigs called the “Mud People” festival. They celebrate this festival in thanksgiving for rain having stopped the execution of 14 villagers by Japanese soldiers in 1944, a miracle they attribute to Saint John the Baptist.