Each year, on the Saturday evening closest to the summer solstice, Siran celebrates the festival of St Jean the Baptist, whose saint's day is June 24th, with a bonfire and a feast organised by the corps of firemen for the people of the village. The christian church therefore both adopted and distanced itself from the origins of the old pagan festival of the longest day while allowing the people to retain the traditions.
This festival is, of course, celebrated all over France with a bonfire as a symbol of purification by fire. In some places, a guy is burned on the fire. In others, people leap over the fire and even children leap over with adults on either side, holding their hands. But in those places the fire is much smaller than the one at Siran.
The feast at Siran is usually barbecued sausage (saucisse de Toulouse) in fresh bread washed down with some fine red Minervois wine.

The summer solstice, in ancient mythology, is the doorway opening the way to the descending phase of the sun through to the winter solstice which opens the way to the ascending phase. In Pythagorean symbolism, the summer solstice is known as the 'doorway of mankind' in opposition to the winter solstice which is the 'doorway of the gods'.
Doorways, representing the threshold between two states of being and hence an access or initiation, had guardians. Janus, the latin god of initiation into the mysteries, held the keys to the doorways of the solstices and hence of the passage from descending phase to ascending phase and vice versa. Janus is the god with two faces, looking in both directions and thus watching those who enter as well as those who depart. The first month of the year, January the doorway to the year, is dedicated to Janus, the oldest of the roman gods. In Indian mythology, this is the task of Ganesha. In christian times, the two Saints John have taken over the role. St John the Baptist is the Saint John of the summer and he has his feast day on June 24th. St John the apostle looks after the winter solstice with his feast day on December 27th.