On September 19, 2013, no one yet knew if that idea was going to work. Would the public show up? Would the streets respond? Would bars and establishments agree to become part of a festival without a venue? What if Arrecife simply wasn't ready for it?
We had to wait, open the streets, see if the public responded, and discover if a city could become a festival for a few hours. Today we know the answer.
But that September 19 had something special. The next day, Friday the 20th, the first edition of Arrecife en Vivo began, a proposal that broke with the traditional festival model: there would be no single venue, no entrance fee, and no central stage to go to. The music would be spread across different points in Arrecife, and the public would have to walk to find it.
The first edition took place between September 20 and October 11, 2013. There were four Fridays and 16 bands of different styles, with stages strategically located on the Avenida Marítima and the area around Charco de San Ginés. The formula was simple to explain, although much more difficult to put into practice: take the concerts to the street, integrate the local establishments, and make the public's journey part of the experience itself.
The idea had come from Semi Gil and Tirso Blancas, linked to HSmith Solutions, the company responsible for creating and producing the project. In a later interview, they both recalled that the concept took shape after a trip to Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, where they encountered an itinerant concert proposal called Ruta Playa Viva. That experience made them think that the format could be transferred to Lanzarote.
And so an idea was born that seemed risky at the time: to make Arrecife stop being simply the place where concerts were held and become the stage itself.
The first Friday brought together Momentos de Rumba, Los Verbenas, África Yeah, and Tihuya Cats. Four different musical acts and the same goal: to launch an experience that depended as much on the artists as on the response of those who decided to walk through the city.
The first edition ended on October 11. The four days had shown that the model could work and that the establishments, the public, and the musicians could share the same space without the need for an enclosed venue. The information published then spoke of a participation that had exceeded initial expectations.
From then on, Arrecife en Vivo began to grow without abandoning the idea that had given it its origin.
In 2015, its third edition arrived. And precisely on September 19, as this anniversary recalls today, the city was once again preparing for a new day of concerts. That night, moreover, a small story remained that well summarizes the capacity for improvisation required by an outdoor festival: fog at Tenerife North Airport prevented Los Contratiempos and Joe’s Band from traveling, and they had to be replaced by Tana y Cía and Treintaytantos.
The change did not slow down the turnout. La Voz de Lanzarote reported then of a new public success and a musical day that exceeded seven hours. The festival was no longer the unknown quantity of 2013: it had found its place in Arrecife's cultural calendar.
That same year also saw the first external recognitions. Arrecife en Vivo was nominated in five categories at the Premios Fest: Best Small Format Festival, Best Communication Campaign, Best Production, Best Festival with Parallel Activities, and Best Food and Beverage Area. 17 establishments participated in that edition.
In 2016, a particularly significant recognition arrived. Arrecife en Vivo became the winner of the award for Best Small Format Festival in Spain at the first edition of the Iberian Festival Awards, held in Lisbon. It was the confirmation that the experiment born in the streets of Arrecife had acquired national dimension.
Three years later, in 2019, another recognition came at the same awards: Best Medium Format Festival in Spain. By then, the project had consolidated its personality and its ability to combine music, public space, commercial activity, and citizen participation.
The story continued to grow. In 2023, on the occasion of its tenth anniversary, the figures allowed us to measure the distance covered since that first night in 2013: around 200 bands had passed through the festival and more than 100,000 people had participated in its different editions. That year, the lineup reached 160 artists and was extended to five days.
But the numbers only tell part of the story.
The other part is in the transformation of public space. For years, Arrecife en Vivo has turned streets, squares, and coastal areas into meeting places centered around music. Its proposal has also been linked to the revitalization of hospitality, commerce, and other sectors related to tourism and urban activity.
Over time, the project also incorporated initiatives related to training, the promotion of Canary Islands artists, and the participation of new musicians, including Cantera Rock and AEV Channel. The intention was for the festival not to be limited to programming concerts, but also to generate a space for support and dissemination for the music scene.
And there was still another recognition. In 2025, Arrecife en Vivo received the award for Best Festival with Cultural Programming in Spain at the Iberian Festival Awards, adding its fifth distinction in the 13 years of trajectory that were then counted.
Today, in September 2026, that formula continues to be part of Arrecife's cultural calendar. The festival maintains its itinerant nature and once again distributes music throughout different parts of the city.
But it is worth going back to the beginning.
To September 19, 2013.
To those hours before, when statistics, awards, and anniversaries did not yet exist. There was only an idea, several stages to set up, 16 bands ready, and a question that no one could answer yet: would it work?
It worked.
The most curious thing is that that first edition did not need big numbers to make history. It only needed four Fridays, 16 bands, a handful of stages, and a city willing to take to the streets. The rest came later.
But the story began there, in September 2013, when Arrecife stopped waiting for music to come to its stages and decided to go out and find it in its own streets. Today, every time Arrecife en Vivo returns, that first bet still resonates.
And for that reason, more than a decade later, that city that went out walking behind the music is now part of its own history.
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