Friday, July 27, 2007
Tenerife: Something for the weekend 27/7 - 29/7
This weekend in Tenerife, if you don't want to simply lie on a beach, you can take your pick from; a motorbike tour, traditional fiestas in picturesque villages, music of various styles and a wide variety of exhibitions.
XX Vuelta a la Isla en Moto
The 10th annual Round Island Motorcycle Tour leaves La Orotava this Sunday, July 29th, at 10 a.m., with stops for breakfast (they don't say where) and lunch in the south (free food), returning to the Plaza del V Centenario in La Orotava at 7 p.m. for dinner and a raffle.
Likely as not, you won't be taking part, but if you like bikes, you'll want to look out for them passing (probably can't miss 'em)!
More information from the Ayuda en Emergencias Anaga (Anaga Emergency Help) website (in Spanish). My reporters, Jack and Andrea Montgomery of Real Tenerife Island Drives, had this advice to proffer:
"In our experience, if you're not actually going to be a part of the tour, it's best to stay off the roads altogether as several thousand motorbikes, assorted 2 and 3 wheeled vehicles and the occasional gorilla suit on a quad bike cause absolute havoc!"
Fiestas Aguamansa 2007The La Orotava district of Aguamansa have their fiestas this week, which began on Saturday 21st and culminate this weekend with the selection of the fiesta queen tonight, Friday, 27th July. On Saturday, 28th July there is a Verbena (Open air dance) from 9 p.m. onwards and, on Sunday 29th July, there's a foam party and bouncy castles for the kids from 3 p.m. and Mass at 8 p.m. with folk groups, a procession and events rounded off with a firework display by Los Realejos' celebrated pyrotechnics firm, the Toste Brothers.
Fiestas Aguamansa 2007
Fiestas Del Batán: Virgen De CandelariaOn July 27th, La Laguna celebrates the Fiestas de San Cristóbal. Do you think we could find a program of events for it? Nope. But, we did find one for the Fiestas El Batán, which, it appears from the photo and the description, are taking place in the hamlet of El Batán / village of Taganana in the Anaga mountains.
I'm afraid that we missed last weekend's attractions; football matches of single girls v. married women and single blokes v. married men, the bouncy castles and a good meal of Papas, Piñas y Costillas (Potatoes, Corncobs and Pork Ribs), amongst other things.
However, on Saturday, July 28th there are still some final events:
At 07:00 canons will be fired to wake the old folk up to make their way to the fiestas from various parts of the island. At 14:30, there is lunch. At 17:00 there is a kinda afternoon tea dance and in the evening, from 23:00 onwards is a Verbena Fin de Fiesta (End of Fiesta Knees Up / Street Party).
XII Festival de la Canción
The 12th Candelaria Song Festival, a song contest that has gained much importance in the islands and in Latin America over the years, kicked off in Candelaria this week, with Puerto Rican pop singer Ricky Martin in concert at the football stadium on Thursday. Tonight, Friday, July 27th, are the semi-finals of the song contest, when 6 of the 12 semi-finalists will be chosen to go through to the finals, to be held on August 4.
Argentinian singer, Coti, performs in the Plaza de la Basílica, from 22:00.
On Saturday, July 28th, "The Salsa Gentleman", Giberto Santa Rosa performs also in the Plaza de la Basílica, from 22:30.
Just my opinion, of course, but this is the real quality end of salsa. Puerto Rican born Santa Rosa, has worked with El Gran Combo and Andy Montañez, just to name a couple of my personal favorites.
Link to video: Perdoname - Gilberto Santa Rosa
It's wholly appropriate that salsa is popular here and that many Puerto Rican artists perform on these islands. When you see images of some of the old parts of Puerto Rico they are very reminiscent of the architecture on these islands, which comes as no surprise when, "Thousands of Spanish settlers also immigrated to Puerto Rico from the Canary Islands during the 18th and 19th centuries, so much so that whole Puerto Rican villages and towns were founded by Canarian immigrants, and their descendants would later form a majority of the Spanish population on the island." [Wikipedia]
Música.- El XII Festival de la Canción de Candelaria arrancará con el concierto de Ricky Martin
El Festival de Música de la Candelaria en Tenerife ya tiene semifinalistas para la duodécima edición
Virgina (NF 2007) in Festival La Candelaria
More from the Candelaria town hall website (in Spanish)
La Noria Urban DJ Festival '07Every Saturday during July, August and September (23:00 to 03:00) in the Calle La Noria in the old part of Santa Cruz; urban DJs doing whatever it is that urban DJs do these days, in a predominently 16th and 17th Century setting.
This seemingly strange inter-marriage is what I would call a very typical Tenerife vibe.
La Noria Urban DJ Festival '07 Via Marchaymas
II Semana de Jazz Costa Adeje 2007Costa Adeje's Second Jazz Week at the Magma Arte & Congress Center in Adeje, Tenerife, on the 26th, 27th and 28th July, 21:00 to 23:00.
II Semana de Jazz Costa Adeje 2007
Summer Tour 07 - Seven Eclectic Dance ClubFriday, July 27th, Seven Eclectic Dance Club, Playa de Las Vistas, Los Cristianos.
Electronic
Doors open at 10 p.m., but Marchaymas warn that as it's a limited sized venue, that it might not be possible to get in on the night.
Summer Tour 07 - Seven Eclectic Dance Club (in Spanish)
Moulin Rouge - La Goulue. (1891) Poster.Homage to Toulouse-Lautrec
"Intrepid reporters", Jack and Andrea Montgomery of Real Tenerife Island Drives, also inform me that there is a fantastic exhibition at the Cultural Center in Los Cristianos; a Homage to Toulouse-Lautrec.
Sixty graphic designs from around the world spanning the 1930s to the end of the last century, together with photographs of Toulouse-Lautrec and reproductions of his posters are being shown to the public in Spain for the first time.
The exhibition is on from July 25th to August 25th, 2007. Opening hours are Monday to Friday: 08:00 to 22:00 and Saturday 09:00 to 13:00. Sundays and Public Holidays, closed.
Diseñadores para un mito. Homenaje a Toulouse-Lautrec
Still ongoing exhibitions elsewhere include:
* Tenerife, un balcón al Universo (Tenerife, a Balcony on the Universe)
* Exhibition, Beñesmen Arte (Prehistoric art of the islands)
* Festival Ben-Gara, Garachico (Religious art)
Plus the summer sales are still on, on the islands. For more details on those and more, you can now visit our Calendar, which I have been busy trying to update with events, fiestas, exhibitions, markets, holidays, etc. (Please note that I will never be able to catch all of them, but hopefully include the most important that, in my judgement, can be enjoyed by English speakers.)
You can subscribe to the calendar itself, if you use Google Calendar.
You can also subscribe to a feed of calendar events to be updated with "What's On" info (note: this will serve them in the order I add them, which is not necessarily date order), or get that same information by email.
Labels: Something for the weekend
