The Romerias of Tenerife are the typical celebration par excellence of the Canarian people, with which they seek to preserve certain customs of the past when on the Canary Islands agriculture and livestock had a much greater weight in the economy than today.
In the beginning, the Romerias were a feast of the upper class of society, who met with traditional costumes of farmers to ennoble the traditions of the country and honor the saints and religious cults related to farming.
What can be found on a romeria?
On a romeria first thing you’ll find is a lot of people on the street, enjoying the festival with traditional canarian costumes. Each zone of the Canary Islands has a costume with different colors and forms, it will not be difficult to come across people dressed in different typical costumes.
Besides people, the romerías are usually a fiesta where everyone brings some food and drink to share with friends or relatives, who ensures to get as soon as possible to the nerve center of the town where they usually celebrate the romeria to find a good place to sit and enjoy the party. Better yet, if the food is typical Canarian food, as gofio, canarian potatoes with mojo, Canarian cheese, etc …
It is very common to share food and drinks among people which are on the romeria, known and unknown. At these parties often you will find horse-drawn or ox-drawn carts where the people in it distribute wine to people who want it. These carts also usually very well decorated with fruits and seeds.
If you go to a romeria, you should know that until recently was not very well seen if people come here dressed in casual clothes. Although at the present, this habit gets lost more and more, being sometimes possible to see people who only put on a part of traditional dress, combined with the usual clothes and people dressed normally. Anyway, we recommend that if you really want to enjoy a romeria, to go dressed in the traditional costume of any area of Tenerife. It is not difficult to find shops where you can rent the outfit for a few days.
On the other hand, music is another key to transport us to the very essence of the Canarian people. The traditional Canarian music, where timples, lutes, chácaras, drums and guitars are the instruments that play a leading role, should make an appearance in every good romeria. However, in recent years, in one of the romerías that attracts more people, the Romeria of Tegueste, it was detracting a bit the essence of the festival that it was common to find some kiosks where you could also hear all kinds music and where younger people were thronged, transforming a romeria in a mini carnival. Fortunately in recent editions any music that was not from the Canarian Islands culture was banned.
Along with all this, the romerías are located usually around other dates, like local sports competitions, agricultural demonstrations and activities that promote the conservation of certain customs so that the traditions are not lost over the years.
We recommend that you go to the romerías in the early hours of the morning if you do not want to waste much time in long queues of cars to access the villages, or if you want to enjoy the food carts. In the romerías with a lot of people it is very likely that, due to the large amount of people at one place, the telephone signals are saturated, and it is not possible to make any calls with your mobile phone .
When do the Romerías of Tenerife take place?
The Romerias of Tenerife usually take place between the months of April and August. Being one of the first is the Romeria of Tegueste, which, as we discussed, is undoubtedly the most famous of the island, and which brings together a huge amount of people.
The dates on which the romerías 2016 will take place are:
- Romeria of Tegueste: April 24
- Romeria of San Telmo: May 13
- Romeria of San Isidro in Guia de Isora: May 15
- Romeria of Los Realejos: May 29. (In the north of Tenerife, this Romeria is also a favorite of Tenerife and the best known)
- Romeria of Granadilla de Abona: June 5th
- Romeria of La Orotava: June 5th
- Romeria of San Benito Abad in San Cristóbal de La Laguna: July 10. (This is the only romeria which is considered as Regional Romeria, since it involves folklore groups from all islands)
- Romeria of La Esperanza: August 7
- Romeria of Candelaria: August 14
- Romeria of Del Socorro: September. (This is considered the oldest festival of Tenerife and throughout the Canary Islands and has been declared a Festival of Regional Tourist Interest)
Enjoy the Romerias of Tenerife
We have prepared this post so you do not have an excuse for not enjoying the best romerías of Tenerife. If you visit the island between April and August, you have the perfect opportunity to discover the true essence of the Canarian people in its most typical and traditional festival.
If you decide to stay at the Apartments Ambassador in Puerto de la Cruz during these special dates, a few minutes drive from our facilities, you have the possibility of going to the romerías of La Orotava and Los Realejos and I encourage you to not miss the opportunity to enjoy some of the best Romerias of the island.
