There are two nice fiestas coming up at the beginning of September. In El Paso, the fiesta in honour of the Virgin of the Pine will carry on until September 2nd, when there will be a concert in town followed by a special mass, procession and public dance up at the hermitage above the town. The Devil’s dance, Tijarafe, 2007. In Tijarafe in the early hours of September 8th, the…
It’s the Sacred Heart fiesta in El Paso this weekend, where they make archways and beautiful salt carpets. Here’s a few photos. These panels and archways area around the church and old church, and the street leading downhill from there. And the church gets decorated too, this year with pink calla lilies.
This weekend will see the biggest livestock fair on the island, in Garafía. San Antonio del Monte used to be a village, but the villagers moved away. About the only thing that’s left is the church of St. Anthony and the feast day, with it’s massive fair. Apart from the animals, there’s a craft fair, and of course lots of stalls selling cheap toys, food and drink. It’s a…
Corpus Christi is a smaller affair in San Jose (Breña Baja) than in Mazo, but it’s still beautiful. San Jose always celebrates Corpus Christi on the Sunday after Mazo’s celebration. Since the whole thing takes out on a flat, tarmaced street, the tradition is to make carpets of coloured salt, with the altars being much more modest. In recent years, many of the carpets are made from seeds and petals,…
Oops. Corpus Christi is this weekend, and the archways and carpets are already on display in Mazo. Do go and see it. It’s spectacular. Here are a few photos from this year. For an explanation of all this, see Corpus Christi in Mazo Tomorrow there will be salt carpets in San Jose.
A feature of many livestock fairs on La Palma is the dragging contest (Arrastre de ganado). Two cows or two bulls drag a weight around a course (usually 70 m), and the fastest team wins. The animals compete in various classes – heifers, bullocks, cows and bulls, dragging different weights. At San Isidro, the weights started at 400 kg, and went up to 800 kg, and the fastest team dashed…