WQS La Santa Surf Pro
The WQS La Santa Surf Pro Championship touches down in Famara this month. With more than 250 top surfers from around the world battling it out in the vital final qualifying round of the Association of Surf Professionals World Cup Tour.
144 of the participants are already seeded in the World Qualifying Series. The competition starts on Tuesday 14th October and runs until Sunday 19th.
The winners from the La Santa Surf Pro gain access to the prestigious ASP World Cup Tour, which features the top forty four best surfers in the world. The action takes place at Playa San Juan, the beach to the left of the village of Caleta de Famara (not the main beach), and is the last opportunity for board-riders to qualify for this event.
This year participants hail from Brazil, Japan, Morocco, Germany, the United States, Australia and Spain amongst other countries. There is particular excitement about the appearance of Sunny Garcia, a Hawaiian surfer who has been world champion on numerous occasions in the past, but had been retired for the last couple of years. Also attending is Nathanial Curran from the United States, who currently holds the number one rating this year in the World Qualifying Series.
The event carries a prize of $135,000 to award the competitor who takes pole position in the competition. Many of the best surfers regularly win prizes of a similar size, with some individuals clocking up earnings that run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars from their passion for board-riding. For instance, Chris Davidson, who is currently rated number two, has already earned $325,850 during his career.
The action kicks off each morning at around 10.00 through to 17.00 and culminates in a major music festival on the night of Saturday October 18th – which last year attracted an estimated 7,000 strong crowd.
Concerts in the Caves
October also sees four more concerts taking place in the atmospheric surroundings of the Cueva de los Verdes. The first of which is scheduled for Saturday 4th October and which will feature the musicians Sebastián Gil and David Lacruz performing ‘The Historic Trumpet’. The musical offerings within this schema includes pieces from Vivaldi, Bach, Stravinsky and Franceshini amongst others – all of which are played by a mixture of baroque and modern trumpet.
On the 11th of October, the group Xácara will be performing extracts from their repertoire which is based on music from the 17th and 18th centuries and which would have been performed in the cathedrals of Lima, Guatemala and Mexico.
The following weekend, 18th October, sees a combination of dance, vocals and percussion from the group ‘Terekitetap’, a collection of four artists. The main focus of their appearance at the Cueva de los Verdes will be songs which have been identified with the Canary Islands, and which have historical significance.
Closing this cycle of concerts on 25th October will be Carlos Oramas, bringing European dances from the 17th and 18th centuries to the stage. Using the baroque guitar and the lute he will be interpreting pieces from Kapsberger, Piccinini and Sanz.
Tickets for all the Concerts in the Caves are available from the ticket office at the Cueva de los Verdes, as well as the ticket offices at Jameos del Agua, the Cactus Garden, El Almacén and the main tourist information office in Arrecife. All the concerts begin at 21.00 each Saturday.
New Triathlon in Playa Blanca
Saturday October 11th sees the launch of a new triathlon in Playa Blanca, the Off-Road Green Cup Triathlon Series. This will consist of a one kilometre swim, a twenty-three kilometre cycle and a ten kilometre run.
Several categories have been devised for participants, including a Cadet class for entrants between 15 and 16 years old and in the upper age categories, Veterans III, for those over 60. Cash prizes will be awarded to the overall winners of €250. The main focal point for the events, including prize-giving, will be based in the Centro Comercial El Pueblo, which is close to the Las Coloradas area of Playa Blanca.
