The City Council of Santa Cruz de Tenerife unveiled yesterday the design of the Carnival 2022 stage, inspired by science fiction. A challenge for the artistic director of the Carnival, Enrique Camacho, who stated that “it has been a great job to define what science fiction was, since in 1991 we had a Carnival dedicated to space, in 2001 to the odyssey in space and in 2015 to future”. Editions of the Carnestolendas that led him to move away from “those themes and to work in a different wave, artistically speaking”.
It is a multipurpose, innovative and light-filled stage area, which will measure more than 2,100 square meters in total, with a covered area under a technical ceiling of 14 x 31 meters and an uncovered part, in front, of approximately 13 x 60 meters , to which must be added 160 square meters of LED screen. Likewise, it will have a revolving door that will extend about 14 meters to the public and that will serve, for example, to show the costumes of the candidates for Carnival queens.
On this occasion, the stage will have a transversal layout in the International Center for Fairs and Congresses of Tenerife, which will allow a better view of the scene, even in the side stands, and which will attract attention due to its lighting and large screens. Something that in the opinion of Carlos Santos, the set designer of this project, “will serve to gain a lot of depth, both on camera and in person” and “enhance the fantasies, colors and volumes of all the Carnival participants, fleeing from the iconography and the elements that we can associate with the allegory ”.
A proscenium, in the words of the Councilor for Festivities of the capital, Alfonso Cabello, which “gives the possibility, depending on the circumstances, of making a television program without an audience or a contest with a capacity of 4,800 people. Also, to have a different scenario in each contest and in each gala, because it can be modulated in a great variety of colors. It does not have the anchors that limit traditional volumetric settings. It is a stage for everything that is seen next February in the fairgrounds to shine ”.
The work is scheduled to begin construction before the end of the year and its assembly would begin “after the visit of the Magi,” said Cabello, who also assured that the project has a budget of 150,000 euros, 50,000 less than in the last edition of the Carnival prior to the pandemic. A tender that is expected to be approved tomorrow by the council of the autonomous Party body and that will give way to the opening, next week, of the deadline for the construction companies that wish to present themselves. “It is the starting gun for many hiring, which will mean a very important economic movement linked to Carnival,” said the mayor.
For his part, the councilor announced that next Monday the 25th, the City Council will meet with all the Carnival groups and their COVID leaders to “protect the image of the festivities and the health of all.” Likewise, he announced that the groups will return to their rehearsal premises as of November 1 and that, for the moment, 54 groups have registered, that is, more than half of those who participated in the last edition of the Chicharrero Carnival: “In a few days 54 groups have registered, so it is expected that many more will finally participate in the Carnival. We are very happy, because this goes to show that there is a lot of desire and enthusiasm ”.
The same one that, by the way, was shown by the mayor of Santa Cruz, José Manuel Bermúdez, at the beginning of this act. Moment in which he admitted to being excited when listening to Carnival music. “Those of us who are carnival people get a lump in our throats when we listen to these songs, which are the soundtrack of this party. Especially when we recover an activity that was previously very normal and that with the pandemic had to stop, “said the capital city councilor.
