The Feasts of Fatima are back. Two years of waiting have been too long, but the month of May is approaching and in Valle San Lorenzo everything is ready to once again celebrate one of the most popular festivals in the entire southern region and in which neighbors and neighbors of Arona: the Festivals in honor of Our Lady of Fátima, organized by the municipal areas of Festivals, Heritage and Culture in coordination with the Valle San Lorenzo Festival Commission.
During the morning of today, the last organizational steps were taken with the security meeting of the festivities, where the security plan of all the scheduled events was reviewed, in addition to the events of the II Cultural Ahijadero.
Thus, the Fiestas de Fátima return with a very complete program that runs from May 1 to 31, and that can be consulted on the official website arona.orgThree events stand out. On May 13, the Dance of the Magicians will take place in the Plaza de San Lorenzo starting at 10:00 p.m., with performances by different municipal folk groups and guests. The next day, May 14, a unique act will take place: the commemoration of the 400 years of the Valle San Lorenzo Parish Community. It will take place after the solemn Eucharist and, to close the night, the first verbena will be held in Arona since 2020 with the Sensación Gomera and Los Ideales orchestras in the town square.
The big day of Feasts of Fatima , on May 15, starting at 12:30 p.m., the Pilgrimage of Fátima returns, with its traditional route to La Centinela, where the floral offering and blessing to the municipality and its inhabitants will be made. The first image of Our Lady of Fátima arrived in 1950, the date on which the pilgrimage began, which has become one of the most deeply rooted traditions in the municipality, gaining strength in 1973, already converted into a pilgrimage of more than 3 kilometers in length. distance.
Due to its evident wealth of heritage, uniqueness and historical value, and to protect it for future generations, the government group will take an institutional motion to the plenary session this week to urge the Cabildo de Tenerife to declare the pilgrimage of Intangible Cultural Interest (BIC). San Lorenzo Valley.
And after the pilgrimage comes the Great Dance of the Fátima Festivities, enlivened by the mythical Wamampy orchestra and by the Los Ideales group. During the verbena, awards will be given to the carts and floats that participate in the popular pilgrimage.
Other scheduled events include, in addition to religious acts, the contest for decorating balconies and facades; exhibitions of traditional costumes and photographs, the domino tournament or the AC Verodal folk performance.
II Cultural Ahijadero in the Fátima Festivities
The Ahijadero Cultural program also returns with a second edition, in which the Historical days on Valle San Lorenzo (May 6, 6:00 p.m., Cultural Center of the town), with presentations by Miguel Febles Ramírez, Francisco Pérez, Carme Rosa Pérez Barrios and José María Mesa Martín; the concert by the timplista Pedro Izquierdo (May 7, 8:30 p.m., CC Valle San Lorenzo); the Cycle of talks by Sebastián Delgado, Nelson Díaz Frías and Marcos Brito (May 10, 7:30 p.m., CC Valle San Lorenzo) or a field trip to learn about the history of the Valley (May 12, 3:30 p.m., from San Lorenzo Square).
José Julián Mena: “A town festival for the town”
“After two very complicated years, little by little we are getting back to normality, and there is no better occasion for this than the celebration of the Fátima Festival in Valle San Lorenzo”, says the mayor of Arona, José Julián Mena.
Mena considers the Fiestas de Fátima “festivities of the town for the town” that arise from the residents of the area: “We have a magnificent group of people from the Valley actively working so that all the residents of Arona can enjoy and value, now more than ever, our traditions, our heritage and our history, and accompany the Virgin of Fátima to La Centinela in the oldest pilgrimage in the South of Tenerife”.
