Canary Island Holidays and Festivals

The Canary Islands are renowned for
their year-round celebrations and
fiestas, with a calendar of events
ranging from deeply religious festivals
to hedonistic, day-long celebrations.
Among the most popular of Canary
Island holidays for visitors to attend are
Carnaval in February, when drinking and
dancing take over the streets of Santa
Cruz, and the June religious
reenactments of La Orotava's Corpus
Christi observances.

Three Kings Festival

While the rest of the world is recovering
from Christmas Day and New Year's
Eve, and attempting to stick to their
resolutions, the people of the Canary
Islands are preparing for the next
festival in their calendar - the Three
Kings Festival. Los Reyos Magos, as it
is known in Spanish, celebrates the
Epiphany on the eve of January 5.
Parades march through towns and
sweet treats and fancy dress are in
abundance.

Music Festival of the Canary
Islands

One of Europe's most distinguished
classical music festivals welcomes
some of the world's top classical
performers to its stage each year from
mid-January to mid-February. Stages
are set up around the archipelago, with
numerous acts playing simultaneously.
Now in its 28th year, the festival
provides a great alternative to spending
the day relaxing on the beach, trekking,
or kitesurfing.

Carnaval

March sees the most colorful and most
spectacular festival of the archipelago's
calendar occur. Carnaval takes place in
February and is one of the best times of
the year to visit the Canary Islands. No
matter where you go, it is virtually
impossible to escape it once in full-
swing. The most elaborate celebrations
occur in Santa Cruz and Puerto de la
Cruz where locals pull out their fancy
dress and put away their inhibitions.
The dancing, drinking, and downright
hedonism goes on for days and gives
Rio de Janeiro's Carnival a run for its
money.

Festival of San Juan

June 23 sees Puerto de la Cruz,
Tenerife, celebrate an ancient tradition
inherited from the original settlers of the
Canary Islands, the Guanches. Unless
you know what is going on, you could
quite easily think the people have gone
a bit mad, as they take cattle down to
the sea en masse to wash them. In
addition, the Icod people set impressive
decorations of flowers alight on
campfires.

Corpus Christi Festival

Held in June, the Corpus Christi fiesta
celebrates the establishment of La
Orotava's Eucharist (Holy Communion).
The town is adorned in multi-colored
sand and the community reenacts
biblical scenes. The festival get
everybody excited, with people of all
ages joining the celebration.
Saint Candelaria Festival
The celebration of the Canary Islands'
patron saint, the Virgin of Candelaria, is
hailed on August 14 and 15. During
these two days, many Canarians go on
pilgrims to the city of Candelria to pay
their respects. The Feast of Saint
Candelaria is held on February 2.

*culled from www.iexplore.com