Parque del Drago in Icod de los Vinos is hosting a weekend of cultural events for Finados, bringing together music, traditional stories and theatre to explore the subject of death from different cultural perspectives.
Organised by Icodtesa, the public company responsible for managing the park, the programme runs from Friday 30 October to Sunday 1 November, with events for families and adults.
Friday: Music and life in death
The programme begins on Friday at 8pm with Music and Life in Death, featuring performances from the Virgen de La O music school in Buen Paso, alongside musicians Julia Díaz and Agustín Aguiar.
Other participants include the La Barca music school, the Seniors’ Community Group and the youth group Viridiana.
Saturday: Stories of Mother Death
Saturday brings storytelling organised with the Cultural Association for the Development and Promotion of Reading and Storytelling.
There will be a family session at 5.30pm, followed by an adult session at 7.30pm.
Storyteller Ana Griott will present Tales of Mother Death, drawing on traditional stories from different cultures in which death appears as a character or companion. It’s a chance to explore a subject that can be difficult to talk about, but has inspired stories and traditions for centuries.
Sunday: Theatre, poetry and boleros
The weekend concludes on Sunday at 7pm with Tenorios, a performance featuring adapted texts from works by José de Zorrilla, Tirso de Molina, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz and Enrique Jardiel Poncela. The adaptations are by Ernesto Rodríguez Abad.
Music will come from Aborá Cel Abreu González on vocals, accompanied by Germán Cuesto Gil on guitar and Gloria Yurena Sánchez on cello, performing boleros.
The evening will finish with an informal discussion over wine, giving artists and audience members a chance to share thoughts about the performance.
Rather than treating Finados simply as a day of remembrance, Parque del Drago is using the occasion to explore how music, literature and oral traditions help different cultures understand death and remember those who have gone.