Photos: Sergio Betancort
The Arrecife City Council has presented the program for its Carnival in homage to César Manrique, which will start this Friday with the opening speech by Servando Pérez Dorta and will feature events for all audiences, including the Carnaval Porteño, a Sábado de Piñata and Tapas Fair with concerts by Orishas and Mikel Erentxun and street theater by Israel Reyes.
The show 'Timanfaya, the dream of Manrique, directed by Israel Reyes, artistic director of the Carnival of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is one of the novelties of this year and will feature more than 80 artists. It will be this Friday, starting at 7:00 p.m., from the Cuatro Esquinas to the Plaza de El Almacén, where later, at 7:45 p.m., the opening speech will take place.
At the presentation of the program that took place this Thursday at the Casa de la Cultura Agustín de la Hoz, the mayor of Arrecife and head of the Festivities Area since this week, Eva de Anta, accompanied by the speaker, began by quoting a phrase by César Manrique. "There is a phenomenon that we have the obligation to disseminate, which is simply teaching to see... so that one can feel the enormous joy of analysis in the totality of things and not spend life looking without understanding for not knowing how to see."
"With the Carnival, a festival so our own, we can teach to see, just as Manrique taught us. See how to have fun without neglecting art and culture, see the fun part without forgetting education and see the commotion and fun with a sublime respect for our environment. When we talk about César we talk about art and culture but also about Carnival, they are united by color, by ingenuity and by passion for life," continued the mayor.
For his part, this year's speaker, Servando Pérez Dorta, thanked the City Council for the invitation to be part of these festivities, which he considers "of great importance for their history, art and culture." "I encourage everyone to come to the opening speech tomorrow, in which I will share anecdotes and experiences in El Almacén. Also, I can't reveal the surprise, but I won't be alone...?", advanced Pérez Dorta, who ran the bar of El Almacén for fifteen years, after César Manrique asked him to do so.
Murgas Contest and Carnaval Porteño
This year's Carnival program will run from February 22 to March 9 and will also recover the Sábado de Piñata, which will be merged with the Tapas Fair on Avenida La Marina in Arrecife and will be held on March 9 as the end of Carnival. It will feature performances by the groups Acustik, Bourbon, Danza Invisible, Treintaytantos, Mikel Erentxun and Orishas.
The Traditional Carnival will take place on Saturday, February 23, at 12 noon, departing from the Cuatro Esquinas, while the Children's Murgas Contest will be held on Sunday, starting at 5 p.m., at the Recinto Ferial. The Adult Murgas Contest will start on Tuesday, February 26, at 9 p.m., continuing the following day with the second phase, while the final will take place on Friday. Thursday, February 28 will be the Gala for the election of Drag Queen.
On Saturday, March 2, after the traditional parade of comparsas and batucadas, the Carnaval Porteño with Tapas Fair will be held in the Parque Ramírez Cerdá, which will extend from 12 noon to midnight with performances by Los Lola, the Orquesta Rikabanda, Dj Maxi, Grupo Aseres and the Orquesta Platino de Valencia. That same day, at 5 p.m., the Masked Ball for Seniors will take place at the Arrecife Civic Center. Sunday will be the turn of the Children's Party with costume contest and 'The Floon Clown Show', which will start at 5 p.m. at the Recinto Ferial.
Coso and Burial of the Sardine
On Monday, March 4, the coso will be held, which will depart from the Ciudad Deportiva at 6 p.m., to culminate in the Recinto Ferial. Subsequently, from 9 to 10:30 p.m., there will be a carnival parade dynamized with a float with dj and batucada from the Recinto Ferial to the Parque Ramírez Cerdá, where at 10:30 p.m. the Orquesta Platino de Valencia will perform. There will also be a concert in El Almacén from the same time, in this case by the Escuela de Calor.
On Tuesday, March 5, there will be a Children's Carnival with bouncy castles, workshops and the performance of the Chispas group in the Recinto Ferial from 12 noon, and on Wednesday the burial of the sardine will take place, which will depart at 6 p.m. from the Arrecife City Council to culminate with its burning in the Parque Temático. Subsequently, from 9 to 10:30 p.m., there will be a concert by the group Treintaytantos in the Plaza de El Almacén.
On Friday, March 8, at 6 p.m., there will be a performance by the Choir of the Real Club Náutico de Arrecife, directed by Beni Ferrer, in the Casa Amarilla, and the following day the Sábado de Piñata and Tapas Fair will take place, which will put an end to the carnival in the capital.
