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14 | Gazette Life | May 2026GAZETTE | TRAVELCanary DayMay 30th is Canary Islands Day, a public holiday on all of the islands and a time when the culture and history of this unique archipelago is celebrated.Of course, for many of us who live here, every day is Canary Day, but May 30th offers a special chance to enjoy the good things that this immensely varied string of eight islands has to offer. HISTORYIn 1402, French mercenaries working for the Spanish Crown landed near Playa Blanca on Lanzarote, starting a process of colonization that would eventually extend to most of the Americas.The natives of the islands at that time were tribes known as Mahos and Guanches, who had arrived over a thousand years earlier from north Africa. For over 500 years since the Spanish conquest in the 15th century, the Canary Islands were ruled directly by Spain. That changed on May 30th, 1983, with the first sitting of the Canarian Parliament %u2013 a government elected by islanders.CLOTHINGOne of the main things you%u2019ll notice on Canarian Day is traditional dress. This is often worn by shop assistants, and schoolchildren are usually encouraged to dress up for the celebrations, too. The clothes are also worn during fiestas and romer%u00edas (pilgrimages). Although there are more elaborate ancient costumes, the most common style of traditional dress reflects the garments worn by field workers in bygone times. Women wear full skirts, aprons, long-sleeved blouses and bonnets or palm-woven hats, and often add a laced bodice or a headscarf. Men, meanwhile, sport a combination of highwaisted long trousers, collarless shirt, waistcoat, sash and a dark felt sombrero.These clothes are designed to be practical and, above all, to protect the wearer from the Canarian sunshine.MUSICCanarian folk music features stringed instruments such as guitars, mandolins and the tiny timple, a local instrument whose piercing sound is the signature sound of the islands.Other instruments include aboriginal percussion instruments such as the lapas (limpet shells used as castanets) and various drums and flutes. Singing is often performed in groups, with powerful, full- throated soloists Men and women wearing traditional dress in Tenerife