The Cabildo of Lanzarote and La Graciosa in collaboration with the Art and Tourism Centers of Lanzarote (CACT), presented this Monday the 14th a new cultural project called ‘Entre Cuerdas’, which will bring Canarian popular and traditional music to the teleclubs and sociocultural centers of Lanzarote and La Graciosa through a circuit of events featuring parrandas and groups linked to the music of the islands.
The presentation was attended by the president of the Cabildo of Lanzarote and La Graciosa, Oswaldo Betancort; the minister of Universities, Science and Innovation and Culture of the Government of the Canary Islands, Migdalia Machín; and the minister of Culture of the Cabildo, Jesús Machín.
Betancort highlighted that the project is born with a clear idea of “bringing our music to those places where it has traditionally and organically been shared and community generated. We want the sociocultural centers, our teleclubs, to be filled again with neighbors, music, and life, while giving space and visibility to the parrandas, as they are undoubtedly one of the cultural anchors that keep our musical heritage alive”.
‘Entre Cuerdas’ has, in its first edition, eight events distributed throughout Arrecife, San Bartolomé, Haría, Tías, Yaiza, Tinajo, Teguise, and La Graciosa. The program will thus reach the seven municipalities of Lanzarote plus a specific event in La Graciosa, with the aim of also bringing this cultural offering there.
Each event will have an intimate format, with an estimated attendance of about 600 people, reaching a joint forecast of about 5,000 attendees. In addition, with the participation of three parranda groups at each event, along with professionals, companies, and collectives linked to its organization.
Music as a meeting point
For her part, minister Migdalia Machín, valued the capacity of ‘Entre Cuerdas’ to bring traditional culture closer to citizens and promote its transmission between generations, bringing the program directly to the community spaces of the towns. Machín recalled that “no festive event on the island can be imagined without the parrandas”, highlighting the importance and deep roots of this cultural element in the island’s identity.
“The 'parrandas' help to perpetuate the popular essence of our music, while updating that legacy to our time, in addition to incorporating an extremely important and unique instrument such as the timple. This project is born to stay, and it is part of the identity, the feeling of territory, and the idiosyncrasy of the island. The Government of the Canary Islands fully supports the initiative of the Cabildo of Lanzarote and La Graciosa to bring this expression of such a popular feeling to all municipalities. Our will is for the project to grow in subsequent editions, as it reinforces traditions for the enjoyment of the citizens”.
For his part, the Minister of Culture of the Cabildo, Jesús Machín, pointed out that “the 'parranda' is part of our way of meeting, celebrating, and transmitting our culture. This circuit gives prominence to those who have spent years preserving our music and allows teleclubs to once again be fundamental spaces for the cultural and social life of our towns”. Finally, he invited everyone to follow the 'Entre Cuerdas' events starting September 26th in the different sociocultural centers of the island, as it is an initiative that unites in a playful way “tradition, culture, and identity; an identity showcase of what we were, what we are, and what we will be”.
Teleclubs and sociocultural centers will play a central role throughout the circuit. In addition to hosting the performances, they will function as spaces for neighborhood meetings and participation, linking each event with the social fabric of its locality and generating activity in its surroundings.
The project later contemplates a second phase with a large closing event, the date and location of which will be communicated once they are defined. It will have a larger format and an initial estimated attendance of over 2,500 people.
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