A small rock in the Atlantic

Puntagorda's Almond Blossom Fiesta

Puntagorda's Almond Blossom fiesta: the main stage is in the green branches at the left, and most of the stalls are along the road going up the hill.

The main village of Puntagorda is quite spread out, but finding the fiesta was very easy - I just followed the music. As you can see, it was packed. But then I knew that a group of people from my own village had hired a bus to go there, and clearly, several other villages had the same idea. These are the buses that wouldn't fit in the main bus-park.

A few of the buses that came to Puntagorda for the Almond Blossom fiesta

The bouncy castles were well appreciated by the youngest people there.

Bouncy Castles at Puntagorda for the Almond Blossom fiesta

And the social club for seniors was packed with dancers. I'd have joined in if there'd been a bit more space.

The seniors' club in Puntagorda during the Almond Blossom fiesta

And just as I left, the salsa band left the main stage, to be replaced by a rock band. I much prefer rock 'n' roll, so I was quite sad that I had such a long drive ahead and had to leave.

The star of the Almond Blossom fiesta in Puntagorda

Labels: almond blossom, fiestas, Puntagorda

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Programme for the Almond Blossom Fiesta, Puntagorda

Almond blossom in Puntagorda La Palma

Friday 4th February
Starting at 10pm, a performance of Batuca (serious percussion) followed by a disco in the Comunidad Cuatro Caminos (The community centre at the crossroads)

Saturday 5th February
Starting at 10pm, public dance in the Comunidad Cuatro Caminos and in the street. (Salsa music).

Sunday 6th February
From 12 noon:

* At the school: bouncy castles
* At the Casa de la Cultura (Culture centre, upstairs):Exhibition of crafts from Puntallana
* At the Comunidad Cuatro Caminos: Dance with salsa music
* In the street: Dance with salsa music

At the sports centre: Concert by a group of seniors fromPuntallana the poet Manuel Plata, “Bejeque”, the poetss Joseíto and Yapsy with music by Pedro Pérez (guitar) and Chanito (lute), group “Los Viejos”, grupo de cuerda from Puntagorda.

And as usual there will be mobile bars selling drinks and food (try a fried pork sandwich!) and stalls selling things like costume jewelry and cheap toys. They will stay open until about 9pm.

The last bar open at Puntagorda's Almond blossom fiesta in 2010

Labels: almond blossom, fiesta, Puntagorda

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Puntagorda's Almond Blossom Fiesta

Puntagorda fiesta: almond blossom

La Palma isn't a big island, but it still takes almost 2 hours to drive from Breña Baja to Puntagorda. I found most of the blossom had been spoiled by the bad weather last week, but it was still pretty. (In a good year, the whole hillside turns pink.) Then I got sidetracked into visiting a friend's barbecue, and very nice, too. I finally got to the main fiesta just as they were packing up, at 10 pm. This is amazingly early for a Canarian fiesta, but they danced half the night on Saturday, and they all had to get up on Monday morning.

Puntagorda fiesta: Hippy playing a didgeridoo

A lot of German hippies live in and around Puntagorda, and they seem to get on very well with the locals. Here's one playing the didgeridoo at the end of the fiesta.

Puntagorda fiesta: the debris

You can see that people had a good time! One of the locals was embarrassed to see my photographing this, but I don't like rooms that are so tidy you're scared to sit down, and I think villages are supposed to get messy when they've had a good party. Besides, the street cleaners were already hard at work, and I expect it'll all be clean and tidy by the time I post this.

Puntagorda fiesta, La Palma: The last bar open

Puntagorda fiesta: The last bar open

Even though the band had left, and most of the stalls were packing up, a few people still gathered round the last open bar. As usual, people were merry, but nobody was outright drunk, and nobody was annoying. In fact I got two offers of bed and breakfast, but neither gentleman took offence when I said that, sorry, I was going home to my husband.

Puntagorda fiesta: the last few revelers

Labels: almond blossom, fiestas, La Palma, La Plama, Puntagorda

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Almond Blosson on La Palma

Almond blossom in Garafia, La Palma Island

Almond blossom in Garafia

The north-west of the island is home to great many almond trees, and at this time of the year, they're all blossoming.

The trees in El Paso and Garafía are beautiful, but the best display of all is at Puntagorda. In fact Puntagorda hosts an annual almond blossom fiesta. The date varies -- the Town Hall sets it a couple of weeks in advance, to (hopefully) coincide with the best blossom.

At noon on Sunday, February 1st, there's the traditional pensioners' almond cracking contest. The winner will be the person who produces the most shelled and unbroken almonds.

On Friday 5th there will be football competitions (for men and women)at 4pm, plus a disco in the community hall at 10 pm followed by and music in the street.

On Saturday 6th at 10 pm there will be a concert and dance in the Community Centre, followed by music and dancing in the street.

The main day is Sunday 7th.

Starting at noon, they'll have bouncy castles in the school playground, and a photo exhibition in the cultural centre (about the delightfully silly Battle of Lepanto fiesta in Barlovento), and dances in the cultural centre, the sports centre, and the street,

I expect they'll have the usual street market, and they'll be giving out free wine and almonds. Be warned that the wine may well have been stored in barrels made of tea (pronounced tay-ah) which gives it a resiny taste. Some people love it. I don't.

The programme is up on the web at http://almendros.puntagorda.es/.

Almond blossom in Puntagorda, La Palma island

Almond blossom from the Mirador (viewpoint) de Millflores in Puntagorda

Labels: almond blossom, El Paso, fiesta, Garafía, La Palma, Puntagorda

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More Almond Blossom

Hillside in Puntagorda, covered with almond trees in blossom.

This year the almond blossom isn't quite as good as previous years, probably because we've had more wind and rain than usual. All the same, I think this hillside above St Maurus's Church is lovely. The photo at the bottom is from the Mirador (viewpoint) de Millflores.

You can see close-ups of blossom at my blog entry for Jan 24th
Hillside in Puntagorda, covered with almond trees in blossom.

Labels: almond blossom, La Palma, Puntagorda

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Almond Blossom

The north-west of the island is home to great many almond trees, and at this time of the year, they're all blossoming.

The trees in El Paso and Garafía are beautiful, but the best display of all is at Puntagorda. In fact Puntagorda hosts an annual almond blossom fiesta. The date varies -- the Town Hall sets it a couple of weeks in advance, to (hopefully) coincide with the best blossom. This year we've had a rather cold winter, so it's a little later than usual, on February 8th.
Almond blossom, La Palma, Canary Islands