Entierro de la Sardina (Burial of the Sardine) is a fascinating festival! This takes place at the beginning of March and there are processions through the streets. Some of the outfits are pretty scary. I watched it this year in Arguineguín. At the end of the procession, everyone congregates on the beach to watch the fireworks which were brilliant this year – lots of oohing and aahing from the crowd!
Photo By Dsevilla
The main part of the festival is the burial of the sardine itself although they blew it up this year – there was a loud BOOM, then loads of bits of ashes floating through the air! Very unusual!
Photo By Dsevilla
This is a very old festival and its exact meaning has been lost along the way, but it’s probably like the harvest festival in England – thanks for all the fish and please let us keep catching more! The Canarians love a good party though so if the exact significance is lost…it doesn’t matter all that much anyway! The famous Gran Canaria carnival is also on about the same time, so do try to see some of that too if you can!
And if you like Spanish Fireworks don’t forget the La Fallas in Valencia on the other side of mainland Spain where they have the daytime fireworks, it’s all about the noise, called Mascletà.
Thanks for the link!
You’re welcome! 🙂
Hi there,
Many thanks for your web site, I find it very illuminating and good fun. I would like to ask though, do you have any idea of the dates for the carnival next MArch 2011 please
Thanks for the compliments John. The exact dates for the 2011 carnival haven’t been announced yet. This is the official website for it: http://www.lpacarnaval.com/v2/ and they are notoriously late in posting. Sometimes the carnival date is only announced a few weeks before the carnival takes place!