Memories / Chapter 3

San Antonio Abad Festival in Arona

January 2020

Photo-report of a traditional Romeria, a procession of carts, animals and people that takes every every year in honor of San Antonio Abad in Arona, Tenerife.

Residents wearing traditional dress and riding in beautifully decorated wooden carts pulled by oxen accompany the patron saint in a procession through the streets of the town. Food plays an important role in these celebrations, which the local people are proud to share with visitors by tossing Canarian potatoes and eggs from the wagons into the thronging crowd. There is lots of singing and dancing to popular Canarian songs played by local folk groups, accompanied by a good supply of beer and wine. That's a fair description of what a traditional Tenerifian Romeria is all about..

During our brief stay in Tenerife we had a luck that a major folk festival in honor of San Antonio Abad took place just in the town where we were staying - the historical Arona. And our luck doubled on the main day of the festival, as the main Romeria procession passed right under our windows.