The Craft Fair returns to Mancha Blanca, 10–15 September

From 10 to 15 September, Mancha Blanca, in the municipality of Tinajo, hosts the Feria de Artesanía de Lanzarote. It is the island's most established gathering of craftspeople and one of the most significant in the archipelago, and this year reaches its thirty-seventh edition.

The timing is deliberate: the fair falls during the feast of Nuestra Señora de los Dolores, patron saint of Lanzarote, when Mancha Blanca fills with people from all over the island anyway. Those who come for the festival find the fair, and the other way round.

The purpose is twofold: to let the makers sell, and to keep alive trades that would quietly disappear without a shop window like this one. Over the years the format has widened to contemporary craft and newer techniques without dropping the traditional ones — which makes the visit far less museum-like than you might expect.

Alongside the Canarian stalls there are workshops, parrandas (folk bands), traditional games, live craft demonstrations, music and an enyesque area with tastings. It is the kind of event that works with children, because you watch things being made rather than sitting behind glass.

One tip: during the patron saint days the road to Mancha Blanca clogs up. Come early in the morning, or pick a weekday rather than the weekend.