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Showing posts with label dancing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dancing. Show all posts

Saturday, May 30, 2026

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:

Monday, February 02, 2026

St. Brigid’s day in La Gomera

St. Brgid’s day was celebrated in La Gomera with a cross made from local rushes and a session of Irish traditional music, song, and even some Irish dancing. Here as in Ireland today is a “festivo” (holiday), but it’s Dia de La Candelaria, the patron saint of the Canary Islands.

Friday, June 27, 2025

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...

Wednesday, May 28, 2025

Canary Islands Day 2025

The Canary Islands celebrate their national holiday Dia de Canarias every year on the 30th of May with lots of activities, concerts and celebrations, read more about it here...
The 2025 programme for Valle Gran Rey (above) has lots of local and Canarian folk music and more and will take place behind the bus station (where the Sunday market is situated) and begins at 1pm.

Friday, February 09, 2024

Carnival season 2024


The carnival season 2024 has begun in La Gomera and the island capital San Sebastian's festivities are already in full swing. The main parade will wind its way through the streets tomorrow, Sat. 10th of February 2024, followed as usual by dancing until sunrise, see poster above for the full carnival programme, which is themed 'The Jungle'.
The capital will barely have recovered from the jamboree when the celebrations begin again across the mountains in Valle Gran Rey where this year's theme is 'Hawaii' and the  main carnival parade takes place there on Saturday, February 24th 2024 from 5pm(-ish).
See VGR programme below:


Then carnival and all aficionados move to Playa de Santiago in the deep south of La Gomera where the fun begins on March 28th, themed 'Pirates of the South', see their poster below. 
Agulo and Hermigua in the north of the island will of course have their own distinct carnivals as well, but I don't have their programmes yet. Watch this space...


UPDATE: 
Nice poster (below) out now for the carnival in Vallehermoso (March 7th-9th):

Wednesday, March 04, 2020

Carnival in Playa de Santiago 2020

Playa de Santiago will hold their annual carnival from tomorrow, March 5th 2020.
The main parade will be on Friday from 6:30 pm, followed by dancing to DJs and salsa bands all night...

Sunday, February 25, 2018

Carnival 2018 comes to Playa de Santiago

Playa de Santiago/Alajero will hold their carnival from tomorrow. The main theme there
will be 'Asia' and the parade will start at 18:30 pm on Friday March 2nd 2018.

Sunday, February 18, 2018

Friday, February 09, 2018

Carnival 2018 in Valle Gran Rey

Above the programme for the carnival week in Valle Gran Rey which starts on Monday, February 12th 2018. This year the main theme is 'cinema'' and the carnival headquarters will be on the pier in Vueltas harbour where a marquee has already been erected. The main attractions are the parade which sets off from the town hall in La Calera on Friday Feb 16th at 5:30 pm and then passes through La Playa, La Puntilla, then back up through Borbalan to the harbour where late night dancing to salsa bands will follow from 11 pm. The following day the 'sardine procession' will start from La Playa and then follow the same route as the parade and once the sardine has been 'buried', all-night dancing will follow once again to end this year's carnival.

Monday, January 29, 2018

Saturday, December 31, 2016

The best New Year's Eve parties to end 2016

Vueltas harbour village in Valle Gran Rey is the place to be for this New Year's Eve. The main fiesta will be held in the harbour where a huge marquee has been put up and salsa and merengue bands will play for the dancers from 11pm until 6am. There will be lots of alternatives in the village with different live music followed by a disco later in the legendary Cacatua bar and beer garden, and just across the lane a vacant shop premises will once again house a sound system with DJ's playing electronic dance music all night and this event is also open to the partying public. Just a bit up the same lane the bar La Tasca will host another party and is renowned for their excellent cocktails. Just take a stroll around Vueltas village tonight and you might discover more...
Elsewhere in La Gomera the largest fiesta with salsa bands is in San Sebastian de La Gomera's main square from where this year the midnight bells for the countdown to 2017 will be transmitted live on RTVC  to the rest of the Canary Islands, but some of the other towns on the island will have fiestas, too.
Let's just hope the wind will die down as predicted.