Music and dance

Traditional music and dance group in costume

An agrupación folclórica (“A.F.”) is a group that performs traditional Canarian music and dances (isas, folías, malagueñas, seguidillas) in traditional dress.

Surprise burst of live music

An asalto musical is a surprise musical burst: a group of musicians 'storms' the square or a venue, playing on the spot to kick off the celebration. At fiestas it often follows the pregón.

Folk dance to live guitars and timple

Traditional Canarian dancing to the string instruments of the parrandas: guitars, timple, laúd and bandurria. Isas, folías and seguidillas are danced in couples or groups, usually in the square.

Traditional dance where couples take the floor in turns

The baile de taifas is a traditional Canarian dance performed in turns ('a taifas'): only a few couples dance at a time while the others wait their turn, to parranda and isa music. An old form of village dance.

Freestyle rap battle, no animals involved

No animals involved: it is a freestyle rap battle in which two MCs improvise rhymes against each other and the audience or a jury picks the winner. An urban cousin of the versadores' duels.

Drum group parading through the streets

Batucada refers to a group of percussionists parading through the streets playing Brazilian-style drums: now a fixture at Canarian fiestas patronales, often opening the procession or accompanying the papahuevos.

Dawn musical parade through the streets

The diana floreada is an early-morning procession (often at dawn, after a night of celebration) that moves through the village streets with music to symbolically wake the community and close out the night's festivities.

Slow, lyrical Canarian folk song

A slow, solemn Canarian song and dance, one of the oldest in the repertoire: a solo voice sings verses of love or longing to guitars and timple, while couples dance with measured steps.

The liveliest and most widespread Canarian dance

A traditional Canarian song and dance, lively and in triple time, related to the jota. It is danced in groups, with figures and changes of partner, and is one of the most common dances at folk festivals.

Dance band at a verbena, not a symphony orchestra

At a fiesta an «orquesta» is not a symphony orchestra: it is a dance band with singers playing Latin hits, pop and pasodobles to get the square dancing during the verbenas, often until the small hours.

Canarian folk music group with timple and guitars

A parranda is a group of musicians and singers playing traditional instruments (guitar, timple, laúd) as they move through the streets or accompany processions and dances: the living heart of Canarian folk music.

Musical parade through the village streets

A band, batucada or parranda marching and playing through the streets, often to announce the start of a festival event. You follow it on foot.

Traditional string music group

A rondalla is a traditional music group with string instruments (guitars, bandurrias, laúdes and the Canarian timple) that plays and sings folk repertoire. At fiestas it is often linked to the village's senior centre or local associations.

Small five-string guitar, emblem of the Canaries

A string instrument like a small guitar, with five strings and a rounded back. It is the emblematic instrument of Canarian music and gives the parrandas their bright, high-pitched sound.

Limpet shells played like castanets

The toque de lapas is the use of limpet shells as castanets, a tradition of Fuerteventura and Lanzarote: two dried shells with filed edges are held between the fingers and clicked in the cupped hand, often alongside the timple.

Improviser of sung verse

A versador is an improviser who composes sung décimas (ten-line stanzas) on the spot, often in a duel with another versador — a tradition shared between the Canaries and Cuba.