Tenerife fiestas
Most of the festivals on Tenerife are of a religious nature although pilgrimages or romerias incorporate Christian and non-Christian elements. Events are celebrated with parades of wagons and floats, or plow teams and livestock, to honour the local patron saint of the village. Processions are accompanied by dancers, folklore activities, regional food, arts, crafts and even sports. These festivals are also a great way to see traditional dress, trajes de majo.
The Carnival of Santa Cruz is one of the most widely known festivals on Tenerife. It is popular both locally and internationally. Celebrated in locations throughout the island, the main events are in the capitol city of Santa Cruz, where the entire city makes holidays of the two weeks before lent. Contests are held for the various carnival bands and street musicians - groups of minstrels and masqueraders, can be seen throughout the city. In the opening days, a Queen of the Festival is elected and the street party officially begins, lasting ten days.
Corpus Christi is another important religious festival on Tenerife. It is celebrated by laying a traditional floral carpet on the streets. However, in La Orotava, they cover the town plaza, Plaza del Ayuntamiento, with a huge carpet of volcanic soil in an array of different colours. The soil is from the Parque Nacional del Teide and returned to after the festival in order to preserve the park.
Among festival celebrations you can take in during your holidays, Easter is still the most important. Tenerife is still very religious and Easter is celebrated throughout the island. La Laguna and Los Realejos hold colourful and extensive processions on Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter. This would also be a great time to take in one of the oldest buildings on the island - the Church of the Conception of La Laguna. It is a National Historic Monument, with dwellings and framework that form the nucleus of the city of San Cristóbal de La Laguna.
Most fiestas originated with the wealthy land owners of Tenerife offering celebrations to local patron saints in hopes for good harvests, bountiful rainfall or to cure an epidemic. They would honour these saints by sharing the bounty of their harvest with the local population, including locally produced wine. As the festivals became more popular, the more important processions were dedicated to major saints. You can enjoy any of these festivals during your holidays, as the public is invited.
Posted 24th May 2010
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