Lunchtime live

Poisoned Folk to bring the sunshine back...

...and make you sweat. They'll be playing tomorrow (Sunday March 4th 2018) lunchtime from 1:30pm on the terrace of Ramiro's bus station bar beside the bridge in La Calera again. Last Sunday the market was abandoned and the music cancelled due to the wind and rain, but the forecast for this Sunday afternoon is much better and the sun will be splittin' stones. There'll also be another open music session to follow 'Poisoned Folk' from from 3:30 pm. Don't forget your sunglasses, and make sure to drink enough beer.

Sunday live last minute change

Caro Spiller from Argentina (above) with Tony Reece and friends will play at the bus station this Sunday afternoo instead of Poisoned Folk (due to illness), who'll be there again next Sunday Feb. 25th  2018 at 1:30 pm, I've been told.

Sunday afternoon live music

Poisoned Folk (above) will play at 1:30 pm this Sunday, Feb. 18th 2018, at Ramiro's

bus station bar in La Calera, Valle Gran Rey (in front of Sunday market).

From about 3:30 pm an open music session will follow, where anything can happen...

Sundays at the bus station

Poisoned Folk (above) will play at Ramiro's bar in the bus station near the bridge in La Calera, Valle Gran Rey from 1:30 pm this Sunday, and again there might be some special guests joining them.

At about 3:30 pm an open music session and sing-song will follow. Below is an image taken exactly one year ago of some musicians who played there and a good few of them will be there again this Sunday. There's also a 'parranda' (open music session) at around 3 pm on Wednesday afternoons at the bus station bay view bar.

The Sunday sessions

... followed by an open music session (called a parranda here) from 3:30 pm. All welcome.

More Poisoned Sunday Sessions

Sunday afternoon music sessions at Ramiro's bus station bar in La Calera near the bridge and Sunday market continue and tomorrow Jan.28th 2018 Poisoned Folk will start playing at 1:30pm again,  followed by an open music session and sing-song.

Two concerts of World Music

Two free concerts of World Music will take will take place this week. The first one in Playa de Santiago on Wednesday January 3rd 2018 will feature three acts: Local musician Juan Mesa and his band, as well as Virginia Guantanamera from Cuba, and Brazilian group Brasileando in the town's square from 7:30 pm. 

The following day the same concert, but without Juan Mesa, will be staged from 8:30 pm in the harbour of Vueltas, Valle Gran Rey.

Colourful pageant tonight plus concert and dancing

Tonight a spectacular pageant will be staged at 8 pm in the harbour of Vueltas in Valle Gran Rey re-enacting of the arrival of the medieval painting above many years ago.

According to local lore a foreign merchant brig or a pirate sailing ship (depending on the narrator) anchored in the the natural harbour of Valle Gran Rey and the sailors rowed ashore urgently looking for provisions and water, sometime in the middle of the last millennium. The area was very sparsely populated in those days, and the the locals were very poor but they made the sailors welcome and brought goats cheese, honey, water and more to provision the ship. They were promised the religious painting  above in return for the goods and a feast to celebrate the deal was held on the beach.

When the locals were asleep the sailors re-took the painting and tried to steal away, but the previously calm weather suddenly changed to continuously stormy weather that made it impossible for their ship to leave the bay. They eventually repented and  returned the painting to the locals, praying to be forgiven. Miraculously the weather immediately calmed again and they could continue their journey. 

The much venerated image has since been housed in the oldest church in Valle Gran Rey up in El Guro, and the valuable medieval painting is the focal point of the 'VII Bajada' fiesta which officially starts tomorrow (see: The Great Fiesta begins).

The pageant will be directly followed by a concert on the pier entitled 'Cabañuelas en La Gomera' featuring Pedro Manuel Afonso from Gran Canaria. After that there'll be salsa bands and dancing 'til late...well, early morning more likely.

Some Irish tunes in Valle Gran Rey

World music group Sarabande, who are on a visit to Valle Gran Rey at the moment, will give a final concert at Gomera Lounge in La Playa, tomorrow night, Thursday 16th Nov. 2017 at  8pm, before they return to Berlin. They do play a few Irish tunes as well as music from around the globe. They also pop up here and there for impromptu street performances (above). Below is a sample of how they sounded in the Gomera Lounge last week:

Mini arts festival starts today

'Festina Lente' begins at 4 pm today. For details see previous post. Below a nice publicity stunt, filmed in Vueltas harbour:

A festival floats to La Gomera

Four sailing

boats on a 15- month journey to seven countries with a couple of dozen mostly French  artists, musicians, dancers and performers aboard will visit the harbour of Vueltas, Valle Gran Rey, this weekend to show their talent during a two-day festival here. They will also collaborate with local artists and the event is facilitated by the Canarian ports authority.

Their interesting programme includes concerts with music from Balkan to Latino to Jazz, a DJ, acrobatics, live painting, and exhibitions (one of them underwater) and more. Films will be projected onto the sails of their boats and you can get French crepes. You may  visit the boats, go on a short sailing trip or book one of several workshops (Click the programme above for details). The troupe is part of the French 'Artquipage' association and their show begins on Saturday, January 21st 2017, from 5 pm until midnight and on Sunday from 3pm to 10pm. (Update: Entertainment starts at 4 pm on both days. Workshops on both days from 3-5 pm. There are some more changes to the programme above to include local artists). Don't miss what promises to be a very entertaining weekend with a wandering arts festival. The performances are located at the end of the pier in the inner harbour and are free of charge, but donations will be appreciated, I'm sure.
The festival had initially been planned to take place last weekend, but was moved forward by one week. Some of the musicians used the delay to play a few impromptu low-key gigs in the meantime to enthusiastic crowds, like their excellent Jazz band (below, sorry for the poor image quality):

Festival postponed

The festival 'Festina Lente' planned for the coming weekend has been postponed and will now take place one week later. More about this 'wandering arts festival' soon...

Recording folk for TV

The popular Canarian TV programme 'Noche de Taifas' is going to be recorded in La Gomera tonight Thursday Dec.29th from 7:30 pm. The show is open to the public and this time it is Valle Gran Rey's turn to be the host. The location is Plaza San Pedro at the beach in La Playa and all are welcome to attend what essentially is a night of Canarian folk music, dance, and more.

Sample the Timple

Above a short video of the performance by timple virtuoso Victor Estarico in Valle Gran Rey last night. If you missed the concert you'll have another chance to hear him and his friends free of charge in the 'Auditorio Insular' in San Sebastian de La Gomera at 9 pm tonight, Saturday Dec. 10th 2016. 

Keeping it Timple

The virtuoso timple player Victor Estarico from Fuerteventura will give a concert in Valle Gran Rey's 'Casa de la Cultura' in La Calera under the heading 'An Anthology of the Timple' on Friday, December 9th 2016. The timple is a Canarian five-stringed mini guitar that has a very sweet and pleasant sound and almost any music can be played on it. The concert is free of charge and begins at 8 pm. Don't miss this chance to hear the timple played by this accomplished musician.