The president of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, Oswaldo Betancort, inaugurated this past Wednesday afternoon in Mancha Blanca, in Tinajo, the 36th Lanzarote Craft Fair, on the occasion of the celebration of the festivities in honor of the Virgin of Los Dolores.
The exhibition can be visited until next Monday, September 15. The event brings together more than a hundred artisans from all over the Canary Islands, with San Antonio, Texas, from the United States, as the guest city.
In the opening ceremony, the island official was accompanied in the speeches by the mayor of Tinajo, Jesús Machín; the deputy director of the Department of Arts and Culture of San Antonio, Texas, Diana Hidalgo; and the Minister of Universities, Science and Innovation and Culture of the Government of the Canary Islands, Migdalia Machín. In the preliminaries, an audiovisual about the Canarian origins of San Antonio and its ties with Lanzarote was projected simultaneously on the screens of the venue.
Betancort highlighted that the Lanzarote Craft Fair "is a benchmark event in all of the Canary Islands", with a surprising power of attraction, which last year exceeded 70,000 visits and which this 2025 aspires to revalidate that success.
In his speech, the president recalled that the exhibition feeds the attractive program of activities on the occasion of the festivities of the patron saint of Lanzarote, the Virgin of Los Dolores, and that "it is an opportunity to continue changing the structural model of artisan commerce and give incentives to a sector with a generational change that we must ensure out of responsibility".
The president also underlined the importance of the international character acquired by the event, with San Antonio, Texas as a guest. "The presence of its artisans is the result of a bond that we have been strengthening," he commented, while emphasizing the importance of continuing to strengthen institutional work to promote the island's foreign trade. He also added that "every sale we make at this Fair is a way to generate employment and preserve the identity of Lanzarote and La Graciosa".
The mayor of Tinajo, Jesús Machín, invited massive participation in view of the countless creations that we can find in the venue, a space that improves edition after edition. Both Machín and Betancort were grateful for the presence among the public of Chana Perera, island president when the Lanzarote Craft Fair was born.
The representative of the expedition from San Antonio, Texas, Diana Hidalgo, thanked the Institution for "the wonderful opportunity to show the talent of our artisans internationally". While the Minister of the Government of the Canary Islands, Migdalia Machín, thanked the artisan effort and stressed the need to work in a coordinated manner to preserve the Canarian tradition and identity, "always looking towards the future, while also supporting the avant-garde" also existing in the sector.
A living space
Regarding the Fair, the Councilor for Crafts of the Cabildo, Aroa Revelo, has stated that this edition "strengthens the commitment to traditional and contemporary crafts, with trades ranging from ceramics or textiles to basketry, jewelry, glass or wood. Each piece we find in the stalls is unique, and is part of the identity of our island and our Archipelago".
Revelo also highlighted that the exhibition "has spaces adapted to all ages and needs, such as the Patio del Enyesque, a lactation area, an orange point and a space for traditional culture publications".
For his part, the Councilor for Culture, Jesús Machín Tavío, has valued that the Fair "transcends mere exhibition and sale, because it becomes a great cultural and coexistence stage".
Tavío added that the program includes concerts, talks, gastronomic tastings, exhibitions of traditional sports and games and a tribute to the elderly, who will visit Mancha Blanca this Thursday to pay tribute to the Virgin of Los Dolores.
The 36th Lanzarote Craft Fair will remain open until Monday, September 15 in Mancha Blanca, with a venue that this year once again brings together the best of the tradition and artisan innovation of the Canary Islands, in a meeting that turns Lanzarote into the epicenter of the popular culture of the Archipelago.
This outstanding commercial and cultural event pays tribute this year 2025 to the soletas, a traditional humble and resistant footwear, "like the character of the islanders", commented Aroa Revelo.