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…
I’ve managed to miss this fiesta every year for 21 years, but I’m told it’s rather good. It’s one of those fiestas where the devil appears and joins in. Since the “devil” has a costume involving lit fireworks, it’s not advisable to wear your best clothes as they might get pinhole burns. It all happens at Lodero on the night of August 26th.
A romería is a cross between a religious procession and a party. Typically, they hold a special mass and then take the statue out for several kilometres along a traditional route, followed by floats which hand out free food and wine, and lots of people, some in traditional dress, many of them singing and / or dancing. Since it’s a big event, most of them don’t happen every year. Tonight…
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,…