What a wonderful October it has been and it will also end with the most glorious warm weather around the island with just a hint of calima in the air. A perfect last weekend of October for absolutely any adventure or rest break. This is also going to be a long and interesting weekend as Finaos/Halloween lands this year on a Monday and then Tuesday, 1 November is a bank holiday in Spain. So a long festive “bridge” weekend ahead. There will be plenty of Los Finaos celebrations as well as anglo-american versions of Halloween festivities, so expect a separate article just for those soon.
Remember that clocks turn back one hour this Sunday, 30 October as 2 am becomes 1 am.
So many different options to explore, experience and enjoy on Gran Canaria, from patronal festivities in Vecindario coming to an end this weekend. Festivities and events taking place in many places like the little village of Veneguera, in the municipality of Mogán, in Ingenio, La Aldea, Telde and Gáldar just to name a few.
The Maspalomas Rally is on this weekend so expect some major road closures during the stages and it’s going to be busy on Friday and Saturday around Faro de Maspalomas Lighthouse.
31ºC in the shade this weekend on Gran Canaria, with a touch of Calima to end October
*** Check the regular markets and a range of other events on our main calendar at The Canary Guide website***
28-30 OCTOBER, SANTA LUCÍA DE TIRAJANA
FIESTAS DE SAN RAFAEL 2022
Patron Saint’s festivities for San Rafael in Vecindario, in the municipality of Santa Lucia de Tirajana, are coming to an end this weekend.
• On Friday night, the San Rafael Festival offers a night of rock music at the Recinto Ferial, fairground (where the main weekly market is usually held). The night starts at 21:00.
• Saturday is one of the most important days of the fiestas; the Romería Pilgrimage Offering to San Rafael.
Departure at 19:00 from the Cruce de Sardina to the Plaza de San Rafael.
At 22:00 Taida dancing will begin in the Plaza de San Rafael with the parrandas Merita la Pena and Parranda el Botellín.
Starting at 23:00 at the Recinto Ferial, the verbena with Star Music and Leyenda Joven.
A drone show at 23:30 (the recinto ferial is a good place to see the spectacle)
• Sunday 30 October: Livestock Exhibition between 09:00-4:00 along the fairgrounds.
Daytime fiesta at 16:00 with DJ Oscar Martínez
In the evening, some local Spanish humour with Kike Pérez at 21:00 the official finish of festivities.
28-30 OCTOBER, TELDE
SUNSET FESTIVAL TELDE
On Saturday, interpreted visits to the boroughs of San Juan and San Francisco at 20:00
On Sunday, performances by Cantadores, Shaila Dúrcal and Violetas at 20:00 on Plaza de San Juan
SATURDAY 29 OCTOBER, GÁLDAR
AGÁLDAR 2022
Taking its name from the prehispanic native name for their ancient Royal Capital, the Agáldar Culture and Tradition Festival returns this Saturday, with the best music made from Gáldar and the Canary Islands offering some of the best soloists in our archipelago.
The event, organised by the Department of Culture and Festivals, directed by Julio Mateo, lives what is now its tenth edition. It will be held at the La Quinta Cultural Venue in the centre of Gáldar and will start at 8:30 p.m.
The Festival will feature performances by the Royal City of Gáldar Music Band, the Facaracas Musical Group, the Farallón de Tábata Folkloric Group, the Surco and Arado Cultural and Folkloric Group, as well as soloists Luis Morera, Fabiola Socas, Manolo Estupiñán, Virginia Guantanamera and Almudena Hernández.
The event will be presented by the well-known Galician journalist Victorio Pérez.
Recinto Cultural La Quinta at 20:30 with free entry.
SATURDAY 29 OCTOBER, TELDE
TELDE CAMBIA LA HORA
A lovely event “Telde Changes the Hour” Telde Cambia La Hora this Saturday in the open commercial area of San Gregorio.
-Starting at 11:00 to 14:00 and then again 16:00 to 19:00 many activities for children around the area. Bouncy castles, pedal karts, fun park area and much more.
-There is also a lively little street parade at 12:00
-Later in the evening concerts in three different stages set up in the area. Tribute to Joaquín Sabina at 19:30 on Avenida de la Constitucíon.
Tribute to Spanish rock at 21:00 Poeta Renando González and last but not least, Tribute to Tequila at 22:30 on Plaza San Gregorio.
29-30 OCTOBER, INGENIO
DÍA DEL CABALLO y DÍA DE LA GANADERÍA
Villa de Ingenio hosts this weekend the celebrations Day of the Horse and Livestock Day. The events will take place on October 29 and 30 at the old Carrizal football field.
In order to bring the equine world closer to the population, the City Council of Ingenio, through the Department of Agriculture and Livestock, celebrate this Saturday, the Day of the Horse, from 10:00 to 14:00, in the old field football ground in Carrizal located on Avenida Carlos V.
The day, offering free admission, will include equestrian exhibitions of dressage, high school, and rodeos, among other activities. In addition to being fun, it is also educational and promotes values such as responsibility, love and respect for animals and our natural environment.
The following day, Sunday, Livestock Day will be celebrated from 09:00 to 15:00 with exhibitions and family activities, including threshing, dragging, donkey rides, milking… “activities that contribute to putting value the primary sector and recognise livestock activity and those who make it possible”.
SATURDAY 29 OCTOBER, MOGÁN
XXXI ENCUENTRO VENEGUERA
The 31st Veneguera Encounter is this Saturday in the hidden little neighbourhood just off the GC-200 on the way to La Aldea from Mogán. The ‘Encuentro Veneguera’ is one of the longest-running festivals in the archipelago, celebrating this year its thirty-first edition. The festival brings together music, the environment, ethnography and leisure, celebrating traditions and will feature multiple activities.
The Fair itself takes place from 11:00 to 18:00 on Plaza y Cardonera with crafts, gastronomy, workshops, music with local artists Kilian Viera, Arantza Navarro and Roberto, Alberto Déniz, Fusión Fría and Cubanarios Cuart.
The night of music starts at 19:00 at the football field performances by Celtas Cortos, Yotuel, Tabaiba, DJ Nichel B.
The bus company GLOBAL will offer a special service during the event with frequent routes between Puerto de Mogán and Veneguera and vice versa.
SATURDAY 29 OCTOBER, VILLA DE MOYA
DON JUAN TENORIO 2022
The Don Juan Tenorio spectacle goes through the Villa de Moya this Saturday.
The itinerant theatre reaches the municipality to tour the most emblematic points of the historic center, from the Pico Lomito park to the Tomás Morales House Museum, passing through facades and viewpoints that will be integrated into a unique performance and tour.
On Friday, the two functions will take place at 20:00 and 21:30. You should try to be early at the Pico Lomito park before the start of the show.
“Don Juan Tenorio: A romantic drama set in Seville in the years 1545 to 1550; performed and published in 1844 (as Don Juan Tenorio: drama religioso fantástico en dos partes); translated into English in 1944. A young Spaniard leads a life of debauchery but ultimately receives salvation through the love of a pure woman.
It is a play written in 1844 by José Zorrilla. It is the more romantic of the two principal Spanish-language literary interpretations of the legend of Don Juan.”
30 and 31 OCTOBER, LAS PALMAS DE G.C.
DON JUAN TENORIO 2022
The historic centre of the capital, Vegueta will once again witness this Sunday and Monday one of the most famous love stories in Spanish literature, Don Juan Tenorio.
Ferran Madico will direct this performance of Zorrilla’s text in which Fran Perea will repeat as the popular ladies’ man who will once again fall at the feet of Doña Inés, a character who will be brought to life by Canarian actress Selene Rodríguez.
The story of Don Juan in the open air, coincides precisely with the Day of the Dead. The play comes to life in the historic streets of Vegueta, and Don Juan and Doña Inés will tour the neighborhood and its squares until the performance ends in the emblematic Plaza de Santa Ana. The adventures of the leading man can be experienced by walking through the nooks and crannies from the squares of Santo Domingo, San Agustín and Pilar Nuevo, until finishing in Plaza de Santa Ana, the only location with seats that can be occupied freely until full capacity is reached. Starts on both night at 21:00.
Don Juan Tenorio in Vegueta, an initiative that started seventeen years ago by DD&Company Producciones, will have a special character this 2022. And the adventures of the leading man can be experienced as before the pandemic: walking through the nooks and crannies from the squares of Santo Domingo, San Agustín and Pilar Nuevo, until finishing in Santa Ana, the only location with seats that can be occupied freely until full capacity is reached.
The production of DD&Company Producciones that seventeen years ago dared to use the spaces of the historic center as part of the scenery and take the protagonists through the streets of the founding neighborhood will do so again, this time without the restrictions derived from the health crisis. The adventures of the gallant, therefore, will be lived as before the pandemic: follow on foot through the nooks and crannies of the city: squares of Santo Domingo, San Agustín and Pilar Nuevo, until finishing in Santa Ana.
SATURDAY 29 OCTOBER, LA ALDEA DE SAN NICOLAS
III FESTIVAL TRIPLE R & XV FESTIVAL FOLK CANARIAS
This Saturday, a double event day in La Aldea de San Nicolás, the westernmost town on the island of Gran Canaria.
– III edition of the Triple R Festival from 10:00 to 14:00 in the Plaza de la Alameda and Calle Real
Workshops, exhibitions, animation… all in order to raise public awareness of the importance of caring for the environment and applying the 3 R’s (Reduce, Recycle and Reuse).
– XV Canarian Folk Festival in the Plaza de La Alameda starting at 11.00 with instruments workshop and concerts.
SATURDAY 29 OCTOBER, LAS PALMAS DE GRAN CANARIA
TRIANA ES COOLTURA
“Triana es Cooltura” is perfect for families and conceived as a cultural event in the form of a gymkana for all ages, held in a space that brings together open-air shopping and a tourist area with a large number and variety of restaurants on offer. Parque San Telmo, Calle Mayor de Triana and Plaza Stagno will be our game board. The start and finish of the gymkana will be located in #ParqueSanTelmo and the different dynamic activities will be located along the route. Fill in your Playland On Road passport: 7 disciplines, 7 colours, 7 stamps. ( Sign-up HERE) it’s all free.
⭐ Circus: The circus performers from The MSB Circus School will be in charge of teaching you how to juggle 3 different things, you must manage to perform them with the greatest possible skill. 𝗧𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗻𝗮 𝗲𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗼𝗹𝗧𝘂𝗿𝗮 arrives to make you enjoy a different experience. The first Gymkana in free format. From 10:00 to 22:00… and it will also have live music, theater, dancing, children’s games.
⭐ Magic: A magician will teach you to perform a trick, you must learn it and put it into practice. You must surprise the magician himself by tricking him.
⭐ Martial Arts: How about learning capoeira or karate katas? Face your own master and defeat him in the first encounter.
⭐ Dance: A fun choreography that you must repeat to obtain your seal of dancer.
⭐ Creative workshops: Let your creativity out and paint a picture that represents the environment to have your artist stamp.
⭐ Taking a selfie is Cooltura: Get your stamp of culture by learning the history of the emblematic spaces in the area. You must fill in the data of interest requested in your passport.
⭐ Restoration: Earn an extra stamp by interacting with restaurants in the area. There is nothing better to rest between tests and tests having a drink on a terrace.
28-30 OCTOBER, LAS PALMAS DE GRAN CANARIA
PURPLE MARKET TRIANA
Together with the CoolTura, there is also a special market taking place from Friday to Sunday 10:00 to 22:00.
28-29 OCTOBER, GRAN CANARIA
XLIX RALLYE DE MASPALOMAS
The 49th Maspalomas rally is held between 28-29 October 2022 and organized by Escudería Maspalomas. It is a trial event that has taken place here since 1974. The test in 2022 will count towards the BP Championship in Las Palmas and its different trophies and promotional cups. The headquarters is at Expomeloneras and the special stage on Friday will start from Faro de Maspalomas which will also host the final arrival ceremony with the awarding of trophies.
On Friday, the technical verifications will take place in the surroundings of the Palacio de Congresos and the Ceremony of Departure in the Faro de Maspalomas at 21:30.
On Saturday: The Maspalomas Rally has a total of 316.68 km. of which 101.07 km. correspond to the 8 timed sections to be disputed on Saturday, October 29; which are: Era del Cardón – Temisas 15.10 km. (repeated twice) Fataga – Maspalomas 13.10 km. Ayagaures – Monte León 7.72 km. (repeated twice) Rosiana – Fataga 10.8 km. Los Cuchillos – Las Vallas 11.25 km. and Tunte – Fataga – Maspalomas 20.28 km. The trophy ceremony is at 19:00.
“Remember that when there is a rally going on it also means road closures during the stages and fast cars!” This also includes the GC-60 road to Fataga and Tunte.
SUNDAY 30 OCTOBER, MOGÁN
ACEBUCHES TRAIL 2022
The Acebuches Trail running competition 2022 takes place this Sunday in the municipality of Mogán after a three-year break. More than 600 registered participants between adults and minors will take on this mountain running race which has three distances 26, 16 and 7 kilometre.
The football field of Cercado de Espino will be the starting and finishing point for this competition which will start at 09:00 with the queen distance, 16 kilometers, and also 26, both with a positive slope of 1,000 meters. Likewise, the distance of 7 kilometers will start at 10:00, which has a difference in level of 500 meters and moderate complexity that favours the participation of people who are just starting in this sport. The children’s tests will take place at 09:15 with the participation of more than a hundred boys and girls.
The race will pass through the mountain trails around the Barranco de Arguineguín as well as through the neighbourhoods of Las Filipinas, El Caidero, Cercados de Espino, Guriete, El Horno and el Sao, territories shared by the municipalities of Mogán and San Bartolomé de Tirajana. Awards ceremony at 13:00.
MARKETS ON THE SOUTH OF GRAN CANARIA
Friday is always market day in Playa de Mogán in the morning. This popular market is in one of the prettiest fishing harbour towns on Gran Canaria, very popular with tourists.
On Saturday The Maspalomas market offers all kinds of textiles, Objet d‘art and other articles, located now in a new venue at Parque Europeo in Playa del Inglés, while the municipal market is being re-build. It is one of the markets most enjoyed among visitors along with Friday’s in Playa de Mogán;
El Mercadillo de Maspalomas is on Wednesdays and Saturdays from 08:00 to 14:00.
On Saturday in Arguineguín, a second-hand market on Plaza Negra (the marketplace) in the morning 09:00-14:00 with a wide range preloved treasures.
On Sunday, the “rastro” second-hand market, is on from 08:00 to 14:00 in the main carpark of the Municipal Market, in San Fernando.
On Sunday, the very popular biweekly farmers’ Market, ‘Mercado Agrícola y ganadero de San Fernando‘ in the parking lot next to the football Stadium and the municipal offices from 08:00 – 14:00. A change to purchase fresh, locally-grown food and value-added produce directly from growers or producers — an authentic retail experience.
Saturday 29 October, Arucas
Mercado Agrícola de Arucas
This popular farmers’ market takes place every fortnight in the facilities of the Cabildo’s Agricultural (Experimental) Farm, located next to the turn off to Arucas from the main GC-2, on the north coast of Gran Canaria. […Click here for the map location…] The market of exhibitors (farmers and ranchers) who sell their produce direct to the consumer with the aim to lower costs and more directly benefit the producer. Arrive early for the best on offer. From 09:00-13:30
“The Arucas Agricultural and Livestock Market began in June 2008, on the initiative of COAG (Coordinator of Organisations of Farmers and Cattle Ranchers) and the Federation of Cattlemen of Gran Canaria (FedeGran), later moving to the Cabildo de Gran Canaria who now promote the current market.”
A perfect time to also enjoy the beautiful natural pools and beaches on the rugged north coast of Gran Canaria.
LIVE MUSIC THIS WEEKEND!
KELLY MARLOW
The astounding US Rock sensation, now a local star on Gran Canaria, playing out to an international audience and live across the airwaves
On Friday at NIRVANA in the Ancora Centre, Arguineguin at 22:00
On Saturday at ROCKABELLA in Playa del Inglés at 18:00 and later at THE SHAMROCK BAR at 22:30
On Sunday at THE SHAMROCK BAR in Puerto Rico de Gran Canaria at 22:30
JAZ ALICE MUSIC
JAZ is BACK ON GRAN CANARIA
Jaz Alice is our most talented and versatile young singer, born in England, she has become a local star performer here on Gran Canaria
SATURDAY 29 OCTOBER, LAS PALMAS DE GRAN CANARIA
MUSICANDO
Ayla Rodríguez, Luz Mila Valerón, Besay Pérez and Iván Quintana.
Four great musicians who give shape to “Maresía”, a musical project of four lovers of Canarian folklore that stops this Saturday at #Musicando.
As always with ‘Musicando’, the cycle of free music concerts, from 21:00 at the José Antonio Ramos Auditorium in Parque Doramas in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
BARBACOA in Europa Centre in Puerto Rico de Gran Canaria
On Friday Kezza’s Diva Show
On Saturday Tom Jones and UB40 Tribute
On Sunday The Champions with their Rockn’Roll Show
