Yésica Trujillo opens the Reislas Festival in Caleta de Sebo on 5 September

The fourth edition of the Reislas Festival begins on the eighth island. On Saturday 5 September, comedian and psychologist Yésica Trujillo, from Tenerife, performs the opening show in Caleta de Sebo, on La Graciosa. Admission is free.

Raised in the municipality of Arico, Trujillo spent years doing comedy purely for fun. Winning the first edition of the Lunáticxs competition changed that, establishing her as one of the strongest emerging voices in Canarian stand-up.

She describes the invitation as a mix of feelings. «Opening Reislas is wonderful, exciting and terrifying at the same time», she says, thanking the organisers for putting her name on the first date of the programme. Her aim for the night is straightforward: she wants the audience's stomachs to hurt from laughing. «I want people to park the noise and the speed of the world for a moment, to share and connect. La Graciosa is the perfect place for that», she adds.

The Caleta de Sebo show launches an extensive run: the festival will stage 50 performances in 22 venues across the Canary Islands, continuing until 29 October. Getting on stage, she admits, took time: «At first I was a bit scared, but in the end I dared to do it and enjoyed it so much that I got hooked». Her training as a psychologist shapes her point of view without dictating the material: «Inevitably the subjects I talk about have a therapeutic edge, but they start from my own traumas, which the audience often shares».

Getting to La Graciosa for the show

La Graciosa is reached by ferry from the port of Órzola, in the north of the Haría municipality. Boats dock in Caleta de Sebo itself, so the venue is a short walk from the quay. Check the timetable of the last return crossing before you set off: evening departures are limited, and if the show finishes late an overnight stay in the village may be the only option. From the resorts in the south of Lanzarote, allow around an hour of driving to Órzola, plus time to park on a September day when the north is still busy.