• The president of the Cabildo affirms that this show helps to recharge energies in times of uncertainty, unite Canarians, and “encourage us to continue building this land and its future together.”
• The event, which is held on Canary Islands Day, will take place next May 29th, in the Plaza de Santa Ana capital of Gran Canaria, from 6:30 p.m. until 1:00 a.m.
• The diverse lineup of participating artists in this edition includes singer-songwriter Braulio, ‘Araguaney’, ‘101 Brass Band’, ‘Lajalada’, Sara Socas, La Pantera, and comedian Quique Pérez.

The Cabildo of Gran Canaria celebrates Canary Islands Day with a new edition of its ‘Canariona’ festival, the event it launched six years ago and which has been held uninterruptedly until 2024, with the goals of “reinforcing the feeling of Canarian identity, of belonging to an Archipelago anchored in the Atlantic and, also, as a way of facing future challenges, in this case, by listening to our folklore and living our traditions. It is a way of gaining momentum in times like this, celebrating the Canary Islands, living it intensely, through our popular music,” as the president of the insular Government, Antonio Morales, stated today.

This event promoted by the insular Corporation is organized by the Canary Islands Fair Institution (Infecar) in collaboration with the Las Palmas de Gran Canaria City Council. It will take place next Wednesday, May 29, the eve of Canary Islands Day, in the Plaza de Santa Ana in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, from 6:30 p.m. until 1:00 a.m. During this time, attendees will enjoy performances by seven Canarian singers and musical groups.

The leader of the insular executive introduced it to the island society at an event at Infecar. He was accompanied by the insular councillor for Economic Development, Industry, Commerce and Crafts, Minerva Alonso; the director of the Presidency, Marino Alduán; the general director of Infecar, Natalia Santana; and the popular singer-songwriter from Gran Canaria, Braulio; one of the participating artists.

Thus, in his speech, President Morales emphasized that ‘Canariona’ is a show that is configured as “a way of reinforcing that feeling of pride and belonging, of feeling like people from Gran Canaria, and of sharing a social project with all our brothers and sisters from the eight Canary Islands,” he asserted. “It is a festival, therefore, to recharge our energies in times of uncertainty, economic difficulties, and inequalities, even because we are a society that is still unequal, and it is good that we generate these spaces for cohesion, for gathering, for celebration, to encourage us to continue building this land and its future together.”

And, according to his statement, the inhabitants of the Archipelago “share a culture that identifies and unites us as a people and that also helps us to project future challenges,” he maintained. “And that is what we have been doing for six years, from a festival in which we try to accommodate all the musical and cultural sensibilities of our Island,” he assured.

In this new edition, he emphasised that they continue to recognize “the Canarian creators who have forged a history over the last decades and are part of our people’s collective feeling. And also the people who are just starting, those who are beginning to forge a future in the music, in the popular culture of our Island.”

Seven artists from the Canary Islands

The insular president explained that ‘Canariona’ will begin on Calle Triana at 6:30 p.m. next Wednesday, May 29, with a performance by the group ‘101 Brass Band’, arriving from Tenerife, to continue with the ‘Araguaney’ parranda, from Telde, “which is responsible for taking popular music from Gran Canaria to the entire Archipelago,” he pointed out.

Also performing will be the comedian Quique Pérez, “who has been provoking laughter in our islands for ten years,” and the group ‘Lajalada’, “which incorporates traditional music with new musical airs, mixing pop, island folklore, electronic avant-garde, therefore, freshness and a contemporary perspective of a way of understanding our popular music,” he explained, adding that Tenerife rapper Sara Socas and Gran Canaria rapper and composer La Pantera will also give a good account of their art on stage.

“And enveloping them all with his experience, with the extraordinary work of decades, will be Braulio, our most international singer, who has also made possible a way of understanding the ballad, pop music, but also that music that identifies us that he has been able to interpret like no one else the values of our land,” Antonio Morales emphasized.

Braulio, for his part, took the floor to note that he feels very flattered to be able to participate in Canariona and that “returning to Gran Canaria to perform is always a great satisfaction and even a challenge because I have to reconquer people I haven’t approached for a while.”

In this regard, the singer-songwriter from Santa María de Guía indicated that his performance repertoire had been prepared “thinking about the date and with the most Canarian themes, in addition to a couple of ballads that we have been rehearsing with a fascinating group led by Augusto Báez. I hope they don’t throw tomatoes at us,” he joked.

Finally, he praised the rest of the festival cast and said, “It will be a pleasure to be among this plethora of artists. I don’t know some of them because I could probably be their grandfather, but I’m sure they’ll garner a lot of interest and reach all audiences,” he concluded.

Finally, President Morales presented the attendees with the ‘Canariona 2024’ announcement poster and stressed that it is a work “that draws from the surrealist current of Óscar Domínguez and the camels of Néstor Martín Fernández de la Torre are also there, therefore, elements of our culture, our idiosyncrasy and of the past and present of our land, which are depicted and present in the popular imagination,” he concluded.