Enjoy Dia de Canarias 2026

Today it's Dia de Canarias day once again, the Canarian 'national' holiday when the inhabitants of the Canaries are allowed to proudly say ''Soy Canario'' (I'm Canarian) and celebrate their feeling of national identity under Spanish colonial rule. Towns and villages enjoy one of the region’s biggest annual cultural celebrations with all things considered typically Canarian. The public holiday is the anniversary of the first session of the Canary Islands Parliament in 1983 and is celebrated every year with traditional music, dancing, food, concerts and many other local events across all of the islands. Wherever you are in the Canaries you will find local events, some also before and after the actual day itself. Below is the poster for the main event in Valle Gran Rey, La Gomera, which starts at 2 pm in the harbour of Vueltas and continues all day until the early hours of Sunday morning:

Video of St.John's bonfire night traditions...

...taken for/by the Canarian government's heritage teaching programme in Vallehermoso in La Gomera's north-west on Monday night, 23rd of June 2025. Note the massive bonfires all around the valley. 

There are lots of huge bonfires in every town and village all over the island on the same night with parties, music and dancing. In the video you can see ancient aboriginal traditions like the music, chants and dancing mixed with newer Christian traditions that arrived with the Spanish conquest. More about the bonfires HERE...

Snapshots of some events around Dia de Canarias

Live show 'En busca de Valentina' in Valle Gran Rey:

Rally of vintage and classic cars stopping over in Vueltas, V.G.R.:

Short video of band 'Ni 1 Pelo de Tonto' rocking San Sebastian de La Gomera:

Ni 1 Pelo de Tonto aka N1P really got the  large crowd going and were enjoying themselves, too.

Dia de Canarias: Live show in Valle Gran Rey tonight plus all-night dancing to three bands tomorrow night

Today is Dia de Canarias, the Canarian 'national' holiday when the inhabitants of the Canaries are allowed to proudly say ''Soy Canario'' (I'm Canarian) and celebrate their national identity under Spanish colonial rule.

A major spectacle and concert will be staged in Valle Gran Rey on La Gomera called 'En busca de Valentina' by a troupe of musicians and dancers from various islands in the Canarian archipelago under the heading  Mestesay y Taburiente. Local musicians and dancers from Valle Gran Rey and from the rest of La Gomera will also perform as part of the show, as will the traditional Chacaras y Tambores.

The show has been touring these islands for quite some time and the performances have earned the highest of praise from spectators and press. 
Tonight's performance will be staged open-air at Plaza San Pedro in La Playa, V.G.R., from about 9:00 pm and admission is free of charge.

The following night of Saturday 31st of May three salsa-pop bands will invite revellers to dance the night away at the same location until dawn, beginning from about 10 pm.

UPDATE:

While it is a bit breezy here in Valle Gran Rey this morning, the sun is shining and it should be a pleasant but windy bank holiday. However it is a totally different picture up in the mountains where the wind is very strong and gusty accompanied by fog and outbreaks of drizzle. All festivities planned for Dia de Canarias in the mountain village of Chipude had to be cancelled after some of the decorations and parts of the stage were blown down early this morning. The events in V.G.R. and in other parts of La Gomera are to be staged as planned.