San Cristobal de La Laguna celebrate their parties In honor to San Benito with a Program of acts which begins this Monday and will run until July 17, without any restrictions and thus recovering “the most important event in the town” in a year in which, in addition, they celebrate their 75th anniversary.
This has been pointed out by the mayor, Luis Yeray Gutiérrez, explaining that “the lagoons have been waiting for two long years until they can finally enjoy their most precious celebration as it has always been”, referring to the possibility of returning to the street the dance of magicians and the pilgrimage.
On this occasion, the event will be characterized by valuing the “tradition, history and roots” that La Laguna has, through acts that seek to “preserve the culture of the city”, the mayor pointed out.
Gutiérrez has also highlighted that there are many residents who have asked that these parties “return to their place of origin”, so that the vast majority of planned activities will take place in the neighborhood of San Benito.
Badel Albelo, councilor for Fiestas, has been in charge of detailing the programming, whose most outstanding events are the magicians’ dance, for which “the 450 tables available for dinner were sold out in a single day”, a fact that reflects “the desire that the parties should return”; and the pilgrimage, which will take place on July 8 and 10, respectively.
Calendar of the San Benito festivities
This edition includes three contests – Romera Mayor, Romera for the Third Age and Romera for Children – and has other varied proposals for all ages, such as sports activities and Canarian board game tournaments, food offerings and a day dedicated to cycling or projections.
In addition to this, it includes the celebration of the XXXIV Gala for the Exaltation of Women and, fulfilling the mission of transmitting traditional values, there will be recognition of historical trades and, for the first time, there will be performances with typical dances and a exhibition to celebrate local customs.
The closing point of the festivities will be the celebration of the Livestock Fair, which will also be based in the municipality between the 15th, 16th and 17th of next month and will have workshops for the whole family, master class cooking and training talks for farmers.
This meeting also presents novelties, since, as Santiago Cacho, secretary of the Tenerife Breeders’ Association (Agate), has explained, “in the previous 42 years in which it has been held, it was a cattle exhibition, but Now for the first time we are talking about a fair as such, with three days to create an approach towards the livestock sector”.
For his part, the historian Julio Torres has pointed out that in parallel to the last date of this exhibition -July 17-, the procession of San Benito will take place “as a way of blessing this fair and some celebrations longed for by all”.
In this way, the city will live two weeks of festivity in which “we will see each other on the street, taking our place and showing that La Laguna is once again more alive than ever”, concluded the local president.
