Carnivals

The residents of Tenerife love socialising and demonstrating in every way their sense of, and desire for, having fun. They are always ready to enjoy themselves and virtually every week there is a fiesta in one part or another of the island.

"Carnaval", the islands most important of all fiestas, attracting visitors from all over the world, comes to town in the month of February. Virtually a way of life there¹s no way if you are here that you can avoid being caught up in "Carnaval-Mania".

The Santa Cruz "Carnaval" is one of the biggest and best in the world, second only to Rio de Janeiro, earning its place in the "Guinness Book of Records" for the largest ever Carnival Ball.

A lot of stamina is needed because once it gets going, it keeps going, non-stop for more than two whole mind-blowing, ear-splitting weeks. And it doesn't end there, because no sooner does Santa Cruz reach for the Aspirins and Paracetamol than towns such as Puerto de la Cruz, Los Cristianos, Candelaria, Icod, La Laguna, La Orotava, Los Realejos and Tacaronte get ready to do it all over again.

The costumes have been months in the stitching and cost a small fortune. The Carnival groups will have been rehearsing since the previous autumn and your head will spin with the relentless rhythms of the Samba and Rumba. Unless you've already experienced the "Carnaval" you can't begin to imagine the scale of it. With participants in the parade commonly exceeding 20,000 it's a far cry from anything you are likely to have seen before. An absolute must for fun-lovers!