Music, crafts, food, traditional dances, joy and color ... There is no doubt that you are in a romería, the quintessential Canarian festival. Each municipality has its own, and to the sound of "chácaras" and "timples", thousands of people gather in the different municipalities to celebrate together a moment of history. Get ready to savor the authentic Canarian folklore!
WHAT ARE THE ROMERÍAS?
The town festivals
The normal thing is that the romerías in the Canary Islands are traditional festivals of a popular nature, normally associated with a religious festival in honor of a saint or a virgin. This is a source of local pride and an opportunity to wear the typical magician costume and eat a few balls of gofio accompanied by good wine.
Despite its rural origin, in some places such as La Orotava, it was the aristocrats who gave life to the tradition, they meet once a year wearing typical agricultural clothing to drink local wine and eat goat and beef meat. In fact, it was the nobility themselves who recovered the use of the old traditional costumes of magician, very little functional for peasant life but very showy for the wealthy class.
In a short time, these elite gatherings became a massive event, becoming the town festivals. Today, romerías are a excuse of collective leisure and also the need to keep alive the history of a town and its cultural values.
CANARY FOLKLORE
The perfect combination of fun and devotion.
Each romería has its uniqueness, its flavors, its smells, its typical costumes and its sounds, but without a doubt the common denominator among all of them is the desire to recall the peasant tasks, nowadays no longer in use. You can attend demonstrations of Canarian wrestling, typical games such as the plow or stick, or the shepherd's jump, and listen to the revelers, with their "timples" and "chácaras", playing the traditional songs of Canarian folklore. And of course, there is no shortage of carts that offer typical food and wine from the country. Hard-boiled eggs, kneaded nougat, wrinkled potatoes, bagels and bread with dog chorizo… Are you ready to try it all? Here we leave you a list divided by months of our favorite romerías.
CALENDAR
▪︎ APRIL
Tegueste - San Marcos
The Tegueste romería is the one that marks the beginning of the season of the great romerías. Wagons decorated with natural products from the countryside, boats, folkloric groups from all the islands, herds of cattle, and a large young audience dressed in typical costume participate in this crowded festival. Normally the romerías ends in the late afternoon, but many continue to party until all the wine is finished :-)
▪︎ MAY
Los Realejos - San Isidro
It takes place in the main streets of the town hall where the carts gather, all adorned with plants and flowers, farm implements and pigs' heads that have been sacrificed especially for the festival. Each one is an agricultural allegory and represents the different streets and neighborhoods in the area. There are many "ventorrillos" where you can eat sardines, potatoes and taste the local wine of the winemakers.
▪︎ JUNE
La Orotava - San Isidro Labrador
The cobbled streets of the city, with its aristocratic colonial mansions, are filled with people dressed as magicians to participate in one of the most popular festivals on the island. The night before is the small pilgrimage, less numerous but just as impressive. This is one of the strictest pilgrimages and where traditions are best preserved. If what you are looking for is authenticity, this is your party.
▪︎ JULY
La Laguna - San Benito Abad
The San Benito Abad romería reaches the streets of La Laguna every year on the second Sunday in July. The event has been declared a Cultural Asset and World Heritage Site by UNESCO and classified as a festival of "National Tourist Interest". From the carts, throughout the journey, chops, gofio, wrinkled potatoes and fruits are distributed, while the parties liven up the road.
▪︎ AUGUST
Garachico - San Roque
Petticoats, skirts, sashes and hats… the whole town takes out their dress clothes from their closets to celebrate one of the most genuine and traditional festivals in the north of the island. At the same time the fishermen carry out the maritime pilgrimage, and with their boats they accompany the Saint throughout the coast. What better occasion to discover one of the most charming towns in Tenerife.
▪︎ SEPTEMBER
El Médano - Virgen de las Mercedes de Rojas
This boat romería has become over the years one of the unmissable events of the summer. Organized for thirteen years by a brotherhood and not by the City Council, this festival brings together all the attractions of Tenerife: sea, heat, music and local gastronomy. An event that without a doubt you cannot miss, since El Médano is only a five-minute drive from our complex.
