Last Saturday night, the Tías Municipal Theater became the stage for a celebration full of identity and feeling. The Guágaro Cultural Music Association commemorated its 30th Anniversary with a festival that, from the moment the curtain rose at 8:00 PM, made Canarian culture the common thread of an evening as emotional as it was vibrant.
Guágaro was born three decades ago within the Municipal Folklore School of Tías, then directed by Professor Octavio Cancio, and took its name from an ancient village in the municipality that was buried by volcanic eruptions in 1730, but which remains alive in the collective memory of music and tradition.
In this special edition, the group wanted to pay tribute to the men and women who worked and continue to work at Las Salinas de Janubio, the most extensive in the Canary Islands. A human and architectural landscape of incalculable value that still today continues to produce that "white gold" fundamental to the Lanzarote economy until not so many decades ago.
For such a special occasion, Guágaro invited the large family of Parranda El Chaboco, founded in 2009 in the heart of Pinolere, in the highlands of the Orotava Valley (Tenerife). Its name refers to the old water mills and their trajectory has led them to travel throughout the Archipelago and some communities on the Peninsula. With its 26 members and the musical direction of Professor Filiberto López, this was their first visit to Lanzarote, bringing with them the freshness of their album De Parranda.
Guágaro, the host of the evening and musically directed by Professor Christian Morales, brought together its 25 members to offer a lively, intimate performance deeply rooted in the island's cultural heritage. The group, with four albums released and numerous cultural exchange experiences in the Canary Islands and the Peninsula, once again demonstrated its commitment to creating its own repertoire and disseminating Lanzarote's folklore. For this 30th Anniversary, Guágaro also dressed up, debuting its new attire inspired by traditional Lanzarote clothing.
Both groups filled the stage completely, alternating performances and turning the night into a musical journey through the islands.
El Chaboco treated the audience to beloved pieces such as Niña Hermosa, Mazurca del Hierro, and Jota Gomera, while Guágaro opted for the most representative of Lanzarote's folklore; Folías, Seguidillas, Isas, and Malagueña, the latter accompanied by two couples of young dancers who added color and movement to the performance.
The constant applause evidenced a devoted audience, who supported the two groups at all times and celebrated this unique musical encounter with them.
The 30th Anniversary also had the institutional support of the Tías City Council, represented by its mayor José Juan Cruz, as well as the councilors for Culture, Pepa González, and for Festivals, Miriam Hernández, who did not want to miss such a significant night for the cultural life of the municipality.
The evening culminated, as it could not have been otherwise, with an Isa Parrandera, a festive and symbolic closing for a day that will be etched in the history of Guágaro and in the hearts of all attendees.
