Corpus Christi celebrations in La Orotava will feature 80 events

The party has started in La Orotava and this year, the fiestas in honour of Corpus Christi, San Isidro Labrador and Santa María de la Cabeza will feature nearly 80 celebrations.

These will include 20 religious acts, 41 popular ones, eleven sports events and seven exhibitions.

The culmination, of course, is the world renowned Corpus Christi flower and sand carpets which take over the entire centre and resemble the very best religious master-pieces of the greatest artists.

The patronal fiestas opened on May 15th, the Day of San Isidro Labrador, and continue until June 14th with the grand romeria, described as one of the most beautiful of the Canary Islands. June 7th to June 14th is known as the “Semana Grande”.

Orotava Town Hall hosted the presentation of the acts and the official poster, created by the young designer Damián Rodríguez Álvarez.

The council team, led by the Mayor Francisco Linares, presented details of the packed programme, together with the parish priest Oscar Guerra.

Highlights of the festival include the election of the Gala Queen on May 30th in the plaza del V Centenario. There will be 21 candidates and a great evening is promised, with around 2,000 people expected to attend.

This square will also host one of the most prominent wine events in the archipelago, namely the presentation of vintage wines. This is on June 10th and about 12 restaurants are expected to take part, together with a number of bodegas.

The big week of festivities begins on June 8th with a recital by Los Sabandeños and continues on June 9th with the reading of the proclamation by the writer Cecilia Domínguez.

On June 10th, besides the presentation of the 2014 wine harvest, there will be the 39th Extraordinary Corpus Concert.

The emblematic Day of the Carpets is on June 11th, followed by the dance of the Magos on June 12th, the livestock fair and Subida del Santo on June 13th and to close the programme, the huge romeria in honour of the patron saints on June 14th.

All of the events will be controlled by a major security plan to ensure everyone’s safety.

Poster winner Damián Rodríguez Álvarez hopes his design will reflect all that the festivities have to offer. He wanted to keep it simple but to reflect both modernity and history.

The full list of festivities can be seen on http://www.laorotava.es/ where the programme can be downloaded.