Once a year, the town hall square in La Orotava is transformed into a huge work of art. On Corpus Christi, a vast mural is created using colourful lava sand and thousands of flowers. In the evening, the festivities continue with a lively wine festival. The celebrations then draw to a close with the largest traditional costume parade in the Canary Islands.
La Orotava is now famous far beyond the borders of the Canary Islands for its sand art. Unlike other towns, the harvest festival in the small town of in the north of Tenerife is celebrated a week later and flows straight into the Corpus Christi celebrations. You can find out why this is the case right here.
For the grand Corpus Christi procession, the streets are decorated with colourful sand paintings and carpets of flowers, over which the procession passes. The highlight of the celebrations is the large lava sand painting on the town hall square.
Corpus Christi: The world’s largest sand painting in La Orotava
Every year, local artists create a gigantic sand painting exclusively for this one day. Measuring just under 900 square metres, it is the world’s largest ephemeral sand painting. La Orotava is consequently well known throughout the (art) world.
Religious motifs are then created on the town hall square in La Orotava using around two tonnes of lava sand, which was specially sourced from the Cañadas, the national park surrounding Mount Teide.
Many weeks‘ work by the ‚Alfombristas‘ – as the sand artists are known – can then be admired on this one day. For several days, people flock to the small village on Tenerife. Then, finally, the wind scatters the artwork in all directions once more.
The festivities culminate in a grand traditional costume parade. During the ‚Romería‘, decorated cattle lorries parade through the town’s streets alongside dance and folk groups. The celebrations then continue until the early hours of the morning.
View now:
«Sand carpet in La Orotava: Ephemeral art on Tenerife»
No comments on this article yet.