Carnival this weekend on La Palma

The poster for Los Sauces sardine's funeral
March 2, 2012

On Friday 2nd March, Los Cancajos will hold its carnival parade, with about 400 participantes (children in fancy dress, serious percussion and other carnival bands). The parade starts at about 5:30 at the south end of the village (near Las Olas hotel)and will go along the main street to the Centro Cancajos, where there will be a performance by clowns. On Saturday, Los Cancajos will hold their 1960s party,starting at…

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Los Tilos: Ancient Forest

Laurel forest at Los Tilos One of my favourite bits of tourist feedback about La Palma island was the disgruntled Brit who described Los Tilos as: “Just a load of trees.” Well yes. And Beethoven’s Ninth is just a load of notes, and the Mona Lisa is just a load of paint. Los Tilos, in San Andres and Los Sauces, is home to one of the best surviving laurel forests…

August 20, 2011
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Photos of the Sardine in Los Sauces

Here are some photos of the Sardine’s funeral at Los Sauces. We arrived too late for the batucada, but we were in time for the drag queens’ performance, which was a hoot. The crowd themselves provided pretty good entertainment, too. Not everyone was in fancy dress, but there were some great costumes there. After the drag queens, it was time for the funeral procession. Most places have the sardine on…

March 21, 2011
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The Sardine’s Funerals 2011

Poster for the Sardine in Puntallana, 2011
March 17, 2011

How many funerals can you hold for a sardine? On La Palma, at least five. Los Llanos and Santa Cruz have already held theirs, but Puntalllana’s is on Friday night at 10 pm, and it’s got a 1960s theme. Public dance afterwards. The most famous sardine’s funeral on the island is at Los Sauces. This year it will be on Saturday 19th, with batucada (serious percussion) at 8 pm, drag…

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Carnival programme for Wednesday to Friday: Santa Cruz and Los Llanos

Wednesday 9th March The Sardine’s funeral This is probably the second biggest event in Carnival. As the name suggests, it’s a funeral for a gigantic sardine, and downright Pythonesque too. Wear black and/or drag, and be prepared to wail with fake grief. Wednesday in Santa Cruz, Friday in Los Llanos, Saturday 19th in Los Sauces (a particularly good one) Santa Cruz de la Palma 18:00h. Reception and Wake for the…

March 8, 2011
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An Octupus and a Sardine

The Octopus’s funeral has been rescheduled for Friday 26th. The procession will leave the pharmacy at 8 pm and make its way to the beach, where the octopus will be cremated. There will be fireworks and dancing. Everybody welcome.This is a new fiesta, so it’ll be interesting to see Meanwhile the sardine’s funeral at Los Sauces will take place on Saturday 27th. The percussion music starts at 8 pm and…

February 23, 2010
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