Rubicón Festival brings eleven island folk groups together in Yaiza

Yaiza's main square filled up again on Friday 28 August for the Rubicón Festival, the evening of traditional playing, singing and dancing staged each year by the Agrupación Folklórica Rubicón as part of the Fiestas de Los Remedios. This edition was built around a single idea, Raíces que nos unen (roots that unite us), and brought together singers and dancers from eleven folk groups from across Lanzarote, with all seven municipalities of the island represented.

Dancing couples from Timbayba (Tinajo), Malpaís de La Corona (Haría), Guagime (Tahíche), Coros y Danzas (Arrecife) and Güerma (Tías) shared the stage with the hosts. The vocal side was carried by La Peña (San Bartolomé), Los Campesinos (Arrecife), Guanapay (Teguise), Gaida (Tías) and the parranda Los Buches (Arrecife). Rather than a run of separate sets, the format worked as one shared programme.

The night opened with a poetic introduction by Isabel Cabrera, who presented each of the invited groups in turn before the programme prepared by Rubicón began. Broadcaster Francisco José Navarro hosted the gala once more. As in previous years, the Yaiza group put as much care into the stage design and the details of the setting as into the music itself.

The Rubicón Festival has become the best attended folk event of the year in southern Lanzarote. Beyond the repertoire, the evening made a straightforward point about regional heritage: traditions stay alive where there are people willing to share them, reinterpret them and involve the audience in a collective performance.

Canarian folk music: what to expect if you go

Island folk nights follow the calendar of village patron saint festivities, clustering between spring and the end of summer. They almost always take place in a square, in the open air, with free entry, and they start late — after dinner rather than early evening — and can run for a couple of hours or more. Come early if you want a spot near the stage, bring a light jacket because inland villages such as Yaiza cool down once the sun goes, and expect street parking in the village centre to be tight on festival nights.