After more than 20 years, posts here will now only be occasional ( |
| The final carnival party in Santa Cruz de Tenerife on Sunday 22 Feb 2026 |
If the liturgical calendar, which sets the dates for Easter, were applied, the festivities would begin on January 8th, leaving no time to set up the stage.
The celebration of the third edition of the Senior Carnival in Plaza de la Candelaria, organized by the Government of the Canary Islands, brought a successful edition to a close, particularly due to the splendour of the second Daytime Carnival, which drew 425,000 people on Piñata Saturday. It evoked memories of epic events, such as Celia Cruz's Guinness World Record in 1987 - when 250,000 revellers danced outdoors - or Juan Luis Guerra's edition in 2019, when it was reported that more than 400,000 carnival-goers participated. Santa Cruz bid farewell to Carnival this Piñata Sunday. True to tradition, the festivities began in García Sanabria Park with a classic car show, whose roaring engines and honking horns then filled the air as people strolled through the heart of the city. Almost simultaneously, the Afilarmónica Ni Fú-Ni Fá was singing the final songs of the Latin Rhythms Carnival in the bandstand in Plaza del Príncipe.
Reflection for Next Year
Looking ahead to next year, the organizers have decided to take a period of reflection. If the traditional calendar, which is regulated by Holy Week, were followed, the opening ceremony would have to be held on January 8th, two days after the visit of the Three Kings, and the first phase of the children's carnival group competition would take place on January 15th. This would mean there wouldn't even be a week to set up the stage at the Tenerife International Centre for Trade Fairs and Congresses, where the Tenerife Children’s Play Centre (PIT) is open until the 6th.
Carnival 2027 Planning
The Santa Cruz de Tenerife Carnival organizers are taking their time with planning for next year.
Generally in recent years, on the final day of the carnival, the Department of Festivals would announce the results of the vote to choose the theme for the following year's Carnival. This year, however, the organizer, Javier Caraballero, decided to embrace the common phrase that in Santa Cruz, it's Carnival all year round.
This is what the 2027 Carnival calendar would look like, if the traditional dates are maintained.
The reality is that the short time required for the next edition necessitates a reflection process, one in which even the mayor of Santa Cruz, José Manuel Bermúdez, wants to include other stakeholders connected to the festival, both representatives of groups and other long-time carnival participants.
The main decision will be whether to ratify a schedule that prevents the stage from being set up at the fairgrounds on time or to deviate, at least for one year, from the traditional calendar dictated by the Church. This would mean that the street carnival dances would be held after Ash Wednesday and opens the door to the desire of some, such as the Councillor for Festivals, to establish a fixed date for the carnival celebrations—a hypothesis that the mayor, who maintains that the festival should continue to follow the traditional calendar, would accept given the current circumstances.
The vote on the theme is scheduled to take place in the coming weeks, while the organization is immersed in preparations for the May Festivals, including the Pope's visit to Santa Cruz de Tenerife on June 12th.
Along with structural decisions, such as the date of the celebration, other significant artistic matters remain to be decided. The Councillor for Festivals has set aside these decisions so as not to diminish the success of the Latin Rhythms Carnival.
The only point of significant disagreement this year centres on the format of the queen's election gala, which could lead to a change in artistic direction, currently held by Daniel Pagés. Javier Caraballero faces a difficult task in an election year. The search for a gala like the one at the 2023 Carnival dedicated to New York could mean the return of Enrique Camacho at the cost of jeopardizing the team that Caraballero has assembled this year. The Councillor for Festivals has a lot of work ahead of him to define the new edition, of which, for now, the only certainty is that it will be held at the beginning of 2027.
Santa Cruz despide un Carnaval histórico sin fechas ni motivo para el próximo año | El Carnaval de Santa Cruz 2027 podría no depender de la Cuaresma por primera vez en la historia
NB: This could all turn out to be a storm in a teacup, because this is NOT without precedence, because in 2008, the carnival was FOUR DAYS earlier. The normal dates of carnival in the streets in 2027 would be Fri 5 Feb - Sun 14 Feb. In 2008, they were Fri 1 Feb - Sun 10 Feb. In 2027, they're concerned about an inauguration on Friday, 8 Jan 2027, but the equivalent date in 2008 would therefore have been Friday, 4 Jan 2008 - two days BEFORE the Three Kings. The PIT has been held for 34 years; the congress centre had opened and used for galas in 1996 and I don't recall this fuss being made then.