Lanzarote Events
Lanzarote´s capital, Arrecife, plays host to a marathon fiesta at the end of this month. The festivities are all in honour of the city’s patron saint San Gines and run for ten days from August 15th to the 25th.
PARTY ON (AND ON): Fiesta de San Gines 15th-25th August
San Gines was formerly the Bishop of Clermont. During the 16th century he was responsible for the construction of a small hermitage, now the Church de San Gines, that ministered to the nearby population of the small inland port area, called El Charco (also known locally as the puddle).
Legend has it that during the 1700´s a portrait of the Bishop appeared, floating on the waters of El Charco. And from that moment on the “porteños” (port dwellers) proclaimed him the Patron Saint of the city.
Whatever the truth of the legend it´s a great excuse for a fiesta. And during the daytime much of the activity is concentrated around the El Charco area itself, where traditional island sports such as Canarian sailing and wrestling are celebrated.
Folklore concerts are also held at the newly renovated El Kiosko, which looks surprisingly similar to a traditional British bandstand. El Kiosko is situated on the seafront just at the bottom of the main shopping street, Calle Leon y Castillo.
The whole event then culminates in a hugely impressive and extremely well attended fireworks display on the main beach, Playa El Reducto, on the night of the 25th.
Tourists are very welcome to attend throughout and Arrecife is easily reached by public bus from both Puerto del Carmen and Costa Teguise.
PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS A YOUNG MAN : Exhibition – Cesar Manrique 1950-57
Cesar Manrique is probably best known for his amazing architectural creations such as the Jameos Del Agua and the Mirador del Rio. But as he himself acknowledged he was always first and foremost a painter.
This month visitors to the Cesar Manrique Foundation in Tahiche (once his incredible home, forged from a number of volcanic bubbles) can enjoy a rare insight into both his early work and a turning point in the development of modern art.
This new exhibition spans the period from 1950-1957 – when surrealism was exploding on the art world. During this period Manrique was working and studying in Madrid, where he eagerly adopted the tenets of this new school of artistic expression. Despite the air of repression prevalent in Spain at that time during Franco’s dictatorship.
Along with other artists such as Munoz and Millares, he abandoned his more literal style and began to experiment with new forms of non-figurative painting, going on to found the Fernando Fe Gallery, arguably Spain’s first major showcase for surrealist painters.
As a result this exhibition provides a fascinating snapshot of an artistic watershed. It maps the changes in Manrique´s painting style during this period of change and provides a prelude to his later full-blown abstract works.
THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE:Wine Festival – La Geria – August 15th
Viniculture on Lanzarote is a unique business. Thanks to the volcanic eruptions of the 1730´s local bodegas were forced to adopt new methods of cultivation.
Ironically though this seemingly apocalyptic scenario actually gave island farmers a helping hand. They soon discovered that they could use the black granules of volcanic rock, called picon, as a type of porous mulch.
As a result they were able to sidestep the problem of Lanzarote´s extremely low rainfall, an obvious hurdle for any kind of crop cultivation.
On Lanzarote, vine stocks are individually planted in craters dug to around a metre in depth. They are then covered in picon and protected further by distinctive semi-circular stonewalls, called zocos’. At harvest time all of the grapes are hand picked.
On August 15th visitors to La Geria can watch the grapes being harvested and even lend a helping hand – or foot.
Farmers in traditional costume use camels to transport the grapes to the local bodegas. Here the grapes are communally pressed as locals and tourists tread the juice from the fruit.
Wine tastings are actively encouraged and folklore musicians add to the festivities.
