This list covers various, mostly regular, events that happen in Tenerife. Or, at least, the largest and most spectacular that offer you a great day or night (or both) out and that would be well worth planning a visit to coincide with. (Otherwise, with fiestas in every village and hamlet, often several times a year, this could turn into a very long list indeed.) Hopefully, these give you a chance to see something of the real Tenerife that you wouldn't have experienced in a resort, at home and, that you probably won't find in the usual holiday brochures and guides either.

Fiestas in Tenerife and the Canary Islands come in two varieties: winter and summer.

Winter festivals include everything in the Christmas season, plus the Carnaval (which itself was renamed under the disguise of "Winter Festival" when Carnaval was prohibited in the time of Franco). Summer ones include Corpus Cristi and the vast array of traditional folk festivals (Romerias) and fiestas to honour saints in every town and village and, which despite the seasonal name, start taking place almost as soon as Carnavla/Easter/Corpus is over and run right through to the end of October.

Some events, such as the annual celebrations for the Fiestas de la Cruz, San Juan, or the Three Kings parade on January 5th, plus Christmas & New Year, of course, are held on set, numbered, dates every year, irrespective of what day of the week they happen to fall on. Those will be easy enough to list.

There are countless others which revolve around the "moveable feasts" of the Catholic church's calendar, like Easter, for example, which then allows us to work backwards to the dates for lent and for the Carnaval. And others, like Corpus Cristi, where the main things to be seen occur so many days before or after the "religious" dates.

Many, many other events are fiestas that pay homage to a particular saint, who's day is on a fixed date, but the celebrations are held in different places on different weeks and weekends near to the date and, which are worked out by a complicated formula, such as the second Saturday, after the third Sunday, provided the wind is blowing from the east. :) We may not always have advance warning of these.

Tenerife Fiestas in January

The first festival of the year is, of course, for New Year's itself. The bells may be at midnight, but the party doesn't start proper until the wee small hours and carries on until dawn. For this, you need new clothes and 12 "lucky grapes".

Celebrating New Year in The Canary Islands

On the evening of January 5th (the eve of Epiphany) is one of the biggest events on the Canary Islands' calendar, with the arrival of Los Reyes Magos (The Three Kings), who are responsible for gift distribution in Spain. This is much bigger than Christmas and involves wonderful pageants and parades through the towns.

Los Reyes Magos: Epiphany, Jan 6th

Around the middle of January, in various towns of the island, such Arona, Los Silos, La Florida in La Orotava and Buenavista del Norte, are the fiestas of San Antonio Abad. It is celebrated over a whole week, but the high spot is when all the animals are brought into town to be blessed - and "bless" the streets with manure!

Fiesta of San Antonio Abad

Tenerife Fiestas in February

Depending on the calendar, Carnaval is generally celebrated in either February or March. Once you know the date of Shrove Tuesday, you can work out when the main events should occur. In Santa Cruz, the main parade of Tenerife's main Carnaval is celebrated in the late afternoon / early evening on Shrove Tuesday. There is another parade on the Friday night before that, the Election of the Carnaval Queen is usually the Wednesday before and the "finale": the curious Burial of the Sardine on Ash Wednesday. There are other events, both before and after. Then the whole thing moves on to other towns, with Puerto de La Cruz Carnaval Parade usually being on the Saturday after Shrove Tuesday and Los Cristianos a week or so later.

Carnaval 2007 Santa Cruz

Tenerife Fiestas in March

Carnaval, depending on the calendar.
Easter, depending on the calendar.

Tenerife Fiestas in April

Easter, depending on the calendar. Easter is when the weather starts to warm up proper and the number of tourists increases also due to school holidays, etc. Palm Sunday is celebrated and streets dressed with palm fronds. There are Easter parades during Semana Santa (Easter Week) in most towns, though you might mistake the cofradias (brotherhoods) with their pointy hats as members lf the Klu Klux Klan. In Adeje there is an amazing piece of street theatre, where actors play out all of the events of the Easter story, with cross carrying and a very realistic crucifixion.

Klansmen and Krosses

Tenerife Fiestas in May

The Fiestas de Mayo (May Festivals) or Fiestas de la Cruz (Festivals of the Cross) are big in Santa Cruz and Los Realejos. The former to mark the founding of the city in 1494. In Los Realejos on the night of May 3rd is a huge "firework battle" - fought out by the Los Realejos firms of Hermanos Toste and that of Santa Bárbara. It is considered one of the best in Europe. There are also Fiestas de la Cruz in Güímar.

Fiestas de Mayo in Tenerife

Corpus Cristi, depending on the calendar.

Tenerife Fiestas in June

Corpus Cristi, depending on the calendar. The biggest Corpus Cristi celebrations are in La Orotava, where the main events are held on the 8th day. That is, find out the date of Corpus Cristi from the calendar and, on the 8th day after that, which falls on a Thursday, is the day to be there: the Día de las Alfombras (Day of the Carpets). Around 100,000 people crowded into the streets of the town this year to see all of the sand and flower carpets. They start being made from the early hours. Late morning to early afternoon is the best time to see them virtually complete. In the early evening the procession walks all over them and destroys them. Almost every town and village also partakes in this fiesta and makes carpets, often with salt and flowers.

Día de las Alfombras

Other events in La Orotava around Corpus Cristi include the Romeria (folk festival in traditional Canarian dress) held on the following Sunday. It's been hailed as The Prettiest Fiesta in the Canary Islands and is probably the biggest of this type, in which, this year, 75 carts and around 25,000 people took part.

On the 23rd of June, eve of the festivity or Fiestas of San Juan (Festival of St. John the Baptist), is a magical night of purifying fire of the Hogueras de San Juan (Bonfires of Saint John). Puerto de la Cruz has the island's largest celebrations of this fiesta along with a traditional Baño de las cabras (Bath, baptism, or dipping of goats).

June's high days and magic nights

Tenerife Fiestas in July

In July are held the Fiestas del Carmen, which again are celebrated most largely in Puerto de la Cruz in the north of Tenerife. The effigy of the Virgin del Carmen is carried through the streets to the harbour, where it is then boarded onto a boat, for a "sea parade" and a ceremony to bless local fishermen.

The Virgin del Carmen Puts to Sea

On July 25th, The Tenerife capital, Santa Cruz, celebrates the anniversary of its famous and proud victory over English Admiral, Horacio Nelson, whose failed attempt on Santa Cruz, on July 25th, 1797, cost him his right arm.

Santa Cruz Celebrates Victory Over The English

Tenerife Fiestas in August

August 15th is the fiesta in honour of Nuestra Señora de Candelaria, the patron of the Canary Islands and these fiestas are possibly the most important fiestas in the Canary Islands. It's another week (or more) long event, which draws crowds of around a quarter of a million to the main events: a reenactment of the Guanches discovering the icon, usually on the nearest Sunday to the date.

Fiestas in Candelaria

The Fiestas in honour of San Roque in Garachico - one of the most important in the town and in the Isla Baja area - are the next big event on the calendar in August.

Fiestas de San Roque in Garachico

Tenerife Fiestas in September

Meanwhile, as various annual fiestas are held in towns and villages, the next big event are the Fiestas in El Palmar each September, which is probably best described as rural show and country fair, with the day of La Trilla (Threshing) being the high spot that draws thousands for a day of rural pursuits, free food, music and dancing.

Día de la Trilla

Tenerife Fiestas in October

In October, the party moves down to Buenavista del Norte for the Fiestas de Los Remedios, in honour of the town's patron. This is another well over a week long string of curiously juxtaposed events with gala performances, multiple processions, fast food, a fun fair, fireworks, music, sport, dancing and all-night boozing.

Buenavista del Norte de Fiesta

Tenerife Fiestas in November

November 1st is celebrated as the Día de Todos los Santos (All Saints Day) and the following day is Día de los Fieles Difuntos (Day of the Dead), occasions on which it is customary to visit the tombs of one's departed, clean up a bit and replace the flowers.

Otherwise, November is a quiet month on the fiesta front, though, I am certain that people will be beavering away at the preparations for all the next items on the calendar. November 22nd is the anniversary of King Juan Carlos' accession to the throne. In 2005, he chose to celebrate that date in Tenerife, though this is hardly likely to be repeated. Another unusual and maybe not annual event celebrated in November 2005 also was the First Buenavista del Norte Tuning Car Meeting.

On November 29th, the eve of St. Andrew's Day, the Fiestas of San Andres are celebrated in Icod de los Vinos, with an event unique to the Canary Islands, called the Tablas de San Andrés - kinda kamikazi sledding down near vertical streets on boards. While in Puerto de la Cruz, it's popularly known as the Fiesta of Pots or Chestnuts. Kids drag strings of tin cans and throw scrap metal around the streets of the town to make as much noise as possible. The "Castañada" (chestnut feast) is held in the square itself, with the chance to try many typical products of the island.

Tablas de San Andrés

Tenerife Fiestas in December

Which brings us to December, when the Christmas season begins here with two Fiestas in early December: Constitution Day on December 6 and the Immaculate Conception on December 8. It's tradition to put up Christmas decorations on the latter date. December 22nd is an important date with the El Gordo lottery. Christmas Eve is celebrated with family, Christmas Day has a tradition for visiting Mount Teide, December 28th, the Day of the Innocent Saints is the Spanish equivalent to "April Fools Day" and, that brings us right round to New Years Eve.

Christmas in the Canary Islands | Canary Islands Christmas 2006

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