Santa Lucía de Tirajana celebrates its big day with the traditional offering and the twinning with Luleå

 

Santa Lucía de Tirajana celebrated the main day of its patron saint festivities this Friday with a procession and offering, a livestock fair, and a reception for the Festival Committee, the Swedish Lucía, and the Canarian Lucía at the Town Hall. Mayor Francisco García expressed his hope that "this twinning, which began with a chance encounter in 1963, will serve as an example to other communities around the world that are divided."

 

The day began with the Livestock Fair. In the town square and around the church there were stalls selling olives, cheeses, chorizos from Teror, mantecados and wood-fired bread. There was no shortage of Christmas lottery sellers on a day when luck meant that despite the cold weather it didn't rain. 

 

Before the mass and procession, a reception was held at the Town Hall for the Festival Committee, the Swedish representative of the festival, Klara Lundholm, and the Canary Islands representative of the festival, Lucía Hernández. Also in attendance were members of the City Council, the Swedish Consul in the Canary Islands, representatives of the Queen of Light Foundation, and a councilor from the Swedish municipality of Luleå.

 

The mayor, Francisco García, said that “each festival is an opportunity for people to revive traditions, to celebrate that we are a community with an identity and open to fraternizing with other peoples.” The mayor expressed his wish that “this celebration of the Santa Lucía festival be a reference for other peoples of the world, so that the desire to meet, to unite and to celebrate the festivals together, spreads to other places on the planet where war conflicts are taking place.” 

 

 

 

 

The mayor also thanked “the Patronato Reina de La Luz and the Lulea City Council for their work to maintain this twinning; and the Santa Lucía Festival Committee for the time they have dedicated and continue to dedicate to organizing the events of the festivities.”

 

At midday, after the procession, the offering was held at the church door. Boys and girls in traditional Canarian dress gave out fruit, vegetables and other local produce that will be donated to the neediest families. During the offering, the Canarian and Swedish Lucia performed the ceremony, which dates back to pre-Hispanic times, of throwing milk and water onto the ground in front of the church from a ganigo. 

 

For 42 years the patron saint festivities of Santa Lucía de Tirajana have been declared Festivals of Tourist Interest. The festivities continue this Saturday 14th with the Day of the Haragán, in the morning there will be activities such as a treasure hunt, traditional games, a children's gymkhana, and in Leopoldo Matos street there will be zanga, machuco and dominoes. In the same street at 14 pm there will be a popular meal. In the afternoon there will be the usual parade, with Mr. Haragán, accompanied by the band Guiniguada and papahuevos. Then there will be the Trial of Mr. Haragán and subsequent burning of the Haragán, with a fireworks display to celebrate the verdict.

 

On Sunday 15th at 14pm there will be a celebration of 'Santa Lucía al Son' and the 'XI Kaminata de Karna'. The festivities will continue the following weekend with the Baile de Taifas on Friday 20th, the contest ¿Dónde cagará Marinera? on Saturday 21st and the Romería de los Labradores on Sunday 22nd.