The Cunning Canary

Heineken Campus Rock 2008 is going to be great fun. In Gran Canaria, it was on 23rd September 2007 so next year it will be around the same time. This event is also celebrated on some of the other Canary Islands, and there is usually a big event in Tenerife.

Tickets are only 13 euros bought in advance or 15 euros if you buy when you get there.  You can get tickets in the record shop chain Discos Noda and the event is held in Heineken Plaza, in the Monopol Shopping Centre, which is in Las Palmas. Groups this year included Amaral, M-Clan, The Sunday Drivers, Fábula y Toom Pak. And lots of other Spanish groups.

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How many Canary Islands do you know? Most people have heard of Gran Canaria, Tenerife, Fuerteventura and Lanzarote, but there are several more main islands too - La Palma, La Gomera and El Hierro. There is a dubious eighth one called St Brendan’s Isle, which Christopher Columbus apparently found but… it seems to have vanished!For every Canarian place name there are about 5 ways of pronouncing it! Take “Gran Canaria” itself – easy enough perhaps? But a lot of people (usually the English!) like to Anglicize everything so… “Grand Canary” has been born. 

Photo By Secret Tenerife

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This fiesta is great fun and I’ve taken part in several!

Decorated boats travel up and down the coast, carrying statues of the Virgin Mary on board.

There is plenty of beer drinking and eating on the boats and there is a great atmosphere in the harbours. The fiesta actually goes (in the South) from Mogan to Arguineguin then back again the following week. Since I work in Puerto Escala (one of the harbours in Puerto Rico) I get the boat from there.

 
Photo By RumboSur

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Dia de los Reyes is on January 6th and is when the Canarian children finally get their Christmas presents! There are lots of ex pats on Gran Canaria now so they do get some on 24th or 25th December, so they can show their non-Canarian friends what Santa brought! Actually, that isn’t strictly true because the three wise men bring the gifts here, not Santa (he’s probably glad of the help!)

This is a Gran Canarian sand sculpture of the three wise men:

Photo By Roshnii

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Pilgrims from all over Gran Canaria meet in Teror and offer fresh produce to la Virgen del Pino, or in English the Virgin of the Pine (the patron saint of the island). This festival takes place between 6th and 8th September. This is the biggest religious festival in Gran Canaria. There is a big procession at this festival and a lot to do, combining religious rituals with other fun events.

Photo By PhotoSpain

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