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12 | Gazette Life | March 2026LIFE IS A FIESTACarnival and St. Patrick%u2019s Day will fill the streets this spring, but on Lanzarote, smaller celebrations take place all year round. We met Miriam Hern%u00e1ndez at T%u00edas Ayuntamiento to chat about this important aspect of the island%u2019s cultural life.Thanks for making time to see us, Miriam. It must be a busy time for you, with carnival preparations and St. Patrick%u2019s Day.It is, although St Patrick%u2019s day isn%u2019t part of my responsibilities. It%u2019s mainly funded privately by Irish-owned businesses, and the Tourism Department take charge of it. There are a number of events like this, where we%u2019ll offer support and help, but we don%u2019t take charge. Carnival is a lot of work, but at the moment much of my time is spent meeting local groups who want to arrange smaller local fiestas later on in the year.How many of them are there?I%u2019ve never counted, but there are several. We usually have a preliminary meeting with a group of representatives from the village, where they make their requests, and there are usually a couple more meeting to finalise the arrangements. When do fiestas happen? Each fiesta is associated with the feast day of the saint or virgin that is the patron of the town or village. For example, in La Asomada it%u2019s St. Joseph, while Puerto del Carmen celebrates the Virgin of Carmen. They%u2019re often in summer, but here in T%u00edas we have the fiestas of La Candelaria very early in the year. The date isn%u2019t always important %u2013 the reason why the fiestas in Puerto del Carmen take place at the beginning of August, when other places celebrate them in late July, is because the fishermen of the village were usually at sea until the end of July.What are the elements of a fiesta? The fiestas usually take place in a social centre in the town or village. Often there%u2019s a marquee, and locals usually operate a ventorrillo %u2013 a stall which serves drinks and food. Each fiesta is different, but they also have many things in common. One of the most popular events is cards tournaments, where games like Canarian envite, ronda and chinch%u00f3n are played. They%u2019re popular events, where people of all ages get together and have fun. I think they%u2019re lovely. There are different foods served at all the fiestas, too. There%u2019s usually a big event where they serve portions free of charge. At San Juan celebrations they grill sardines, at La Asomada and Conil they serve chops, GAZETTE | INTERVIEWIntervie Miriam Hern%u00e1ndez, T%u00edas%u2019s Councillor for Fiestas and Commerce