Local festivities

“Each of the Canary Islands, and every town or village in it, has some particular saint for its patron, whose day is celebrated as a festival by a particular service in the church, where a sermon is preached in honour of the saint. On these occasions the street near the church is strewed with leaves of trees, flowers and a great number of wax tapers are lighted, and a considerable quantity of gunpowder expended in fireworks […]

On the eve of that day there is generally a kind of fair, to which the people of the adjacent country flock, and spend the greatest par of the night in jollity and dancing to the found of the guittar, accompanied by the voices of the dancers and of those who play on that instrument. Many sorts of dances are practised here, particularly Zarabandand Folias, which are slow dances. […] The quick dances are the Canario, Fandango and Zapateo: the first of these was the dance used by the ancient Canarians; the second is that which is now mostly practised by the vulgar; and the last is much the same with our hornpipe. Some of these dances may be called dramatic, for the men sing verses to their partners, who answer them in the same manner.

On the feast of the tutelar saints of Canaria, Tenerife and Palma, plays are acted in the streets for the amusement of the multitude. […] The diversions among the vulgar, besides singing, playing on the guittar and dancing are wrestling, cards, quoits and throwing a ball through a ring, which is placed at a great distance off.”

George Glas, 1764