Piñata Weekend in Santa Cruz de Tenerife

The Piñata provides the finale to the party

Shrove Tuesday might have been the end of carnival frivolities in the strictly religious sense, but Carnival in Santa Cruz de Tenerife isn't over yet ... by a long way as the party is still going strong this weekend as the Piñata provides a fitting finale to the festivities.

Sábado de Piñata - Carnaval de día

Sábado de Piñata (Saturday), in Santa Cruz the most important Carnaval de Día (Daytime Carnaval) in the world will be taking place. That might be because it's the only designated daytime carnival in the world - we haven't checked - but nevertheless an afternoon full of spectacular shows can be expected in the Plazas del Príncipe, La Candelaria, Europa and Weyler. The biggest act English speakers will recognize is Craig David. As a finale at around 4 p.m., there'll be the biggest exhibition of sound fireworks ever to have taken place on the islands. This noisy celebration that was baptised "gran traca" when it appeared for the first time in Tenerife last year, is like the mascletas (bang fests) of Valencia.

Coso Infantil - Children's Carnaval Parade

Although the live music and fireworks extravaganza of daytime Carnaval is what's being promoted most about the final weekend of carnival in Santa Cruz these days, there are other, events taking place. One I highly recommend is the Coso Infantil - Children's Carnaval Parade - from 6 p.m. on Saturday, February 28th. It's like the big parade, but with added cuteness and is ideal to take the kids or grandkids along to too. The route is Calle Numancia, Pilar, Villalba Hervás to the Plaza de La Candelaria.

Concurso de coches antiguos - Classic Cars

On Sunday morning, is the XXXVIII Gran Concurso en la Ciudad de Automóviles Antiguos (I make that the 38th edition of this gathering of Classic Cars), which meets at the Parque García Sanabria (see map) at 10 a.m. Then at mid-day, the cars will make a circuit of the city, passing through the streets of Numancia, Pilar, Plaza del Príncipe, Villalba Hervás, La Marina, Avenidas de Anaga and Marítima, ending in the car park of the Club Náutico de Tenerife (see map).