Uruguay named guest country at the Mancha Blanca craft fair in Lanzarote

The international strand of this year's Feria de Artesania in Mancha Blanca will come from Uruguay, the edition's guest country. Six Uruguayan artisans are travelling to the island to show their techniques, their products and their own craft traditions to visitors walking through the grounds.

Alongside the guest delegation, all seven municipalities of Lanzarote will be represented, each sending one artisan. Around eight professionals will also be on duty running training workshops and live demonstrations across the six days of the event.

The programme brings back La herencia en las manos, an initiative launched by the crafts department in 2024 to make it easier for veteran Lanzarote artisans - people who were part of the fair for years - to take part again. Around ten senior craftspeople will fill this space with live demonstrations of traditional trades, explaining to visitors skills built up over decades of work.

Taken together, the three strands set the tone of the edition: an outside perspective from the guest country, a full picture of the trades still practised on the island, and the memory of those who kept them going longest. In each case the emphasis is on watching work in progress rather than looking at finished pieces on a table.

Making the most of a visit

Mancha Blanca, in the municipality of Tinajo, is easy to cover on foot, but with many stands working at once it pays to allow time: following one demonstration from start to finish can mean half an hour at the same bench. Early and late hours are usually the best moments to talk to the artisans, who tend to be surrounded by visitors around midday. If you drive, expect to park away from the entrance and walk a few minutes, especially at the weekend. Families will find the workshops and live demonstrations the most approachable part of the programme.