• The Fair, which opens today near the Maspalomas Lighthouse, will remain open until August 17th from 5:00 PM to 11:00 PM
• As in previous editions, the fair will feature live craft demonstrations and live concerts that enrich the experience for locals and tourists alike

 The Gran Canaria Summer South Craft Fair opened today with the participation of 73 artisans from 16 municipalities across the island, who have ten days ahead to showcase and sell their handmade products.

Organized by Infecar, Gran Canaria Fair, the 18th edition of this fair returns to the vicinity of the Maspalomas Lighthouse. This strategic location allows both tourists and island residents vacationing in the area to enjoy a selection of Gran Canaria’s artisan crafts, as highlighted this afternoon at the inauguration by the Council’s President and Sustainable Mobility Councilor, Teodoro Sosa.

Along these lines, the Councilor for Economic Development, Industry, Commerce and Crafts of the Gran Canaria Council, Minerva Alonso, emphasized on the occasion of the summer event’s opening that it is “a space where artisans from Gran Canaria, representing 21 different crafts, will be present, and this transforms the Maspalomas Lighthouse area into a space of culture and identity, and above all, support for the island’s artisan sector.”

Carpentry, ceramics, candle making, blacksmithing, toy making, jewellery… until August 17th, visitors will be able to discover and purchase items from artisans representing this wide variety of crafts practiced on the island, four of which are traditional (blacksmithing, forging and locksmithing, wood turning, traditional carpentry and textile decoration).

Regarding their origin, the artisans participating in this 18th edition of the fair come from various municipalities across the island, with the Gran Canaria capital being the most represented with 26 professionals, followed by Agüimes with nine, and Telde with six. San Bartolomé de Tirajana and Ingenio contribute five and four professionals respectively, while Valsequillo, Santa Brígida, Firgas and Arucas will bring three artisans each to the fair; Teror, Santa Lucía, Moya and Agaete will do likewise with two; the municipalities of Santa María de Guía, Gáldar and Mogán participate on this occasion with one professional each.

In addition to the exhibition, every day in the ‘Live Crafts’ space, visitors will be able to enjoy live demonstrations of some of the most representative crafts, such as wool spinning, drawn thread work, felt work, rush basketry, pottery, embroidery, rye basketry, knife making and stone masonry.

On weekend evenings during the fair, visitors touring the three tents that make up this exhibition will also be able to enjoy various musical performances: following the concert by the Canarian music group Asentaos y Tumbaos held on the first Friday of the fair, Saturday August 9th will feature Kevin Carvallo’s Cuban music trio, who will enliven the day starting at 6:30 PM. For the second weekend of the fair, the guitar and voice duo composed of Zaida Jiménez and Juan Sebastián Ramírez will perform on Friday the 15th, and the folk trio of Alberto González, Iván Quintana and Juan Sebastián Ramírez will perform on Saturday, August 16th. Both performances will take place at 8:00 PM.

The Gran Canaria Summer South Craft Fair, which will have its doors open from 5:00 PM to 11:00 PM, is the ideal opportunity for artisans to showcase their work and display the quality of their products, which they can also sell after months of laborious work.

In this regard, the event has consolidated in recent years as a showcase for handmade work on the island and as a sales platform for quality artisan work, but also as a space for promoting traditions and the island’s artisan heritage, increasingly valued by the local public.

The official event website (www.feriasartesaniagrancanaria.es) already features the list of artisans participating in this edition of the fair, as well as schedules and featured performers for the live craft demonstrations and concerts.

Promoted and funded by the Gran Canaria Council, through the Fund for Ethnography and Development of Canarian Crafts (Fedac), an organization attached to the Department of Economic Development, Industry, Commerce and Crafts, the Summer South Craft Fair is organized by Infecar, Gran Canaria Fair, with the collaboration of the San Bartolomé de Tirajana City Council.