Gran Fiesta Africa Vive in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria

The Gran Africa Vive Fiesta, last Saturday took over the Parque Santa Catalina in the capital of Gran Canaria with a fun day aimed at the whole family. It was the closing of this initiative, co-organised by Casa África and Binter, in order to celebrate the 25th of May, Africa Day. The festival featured workshops for children and adults and storytelling, and a gastronomic journey in the Elder Building, where African dishes could not only be tasted, but there were also cooking demonstrations. This fiesta had the support of the Town Council of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and the Federation of African Associations of the Canary Islands.

Those attending this fiesta also enjoyed dance workshops, music and interpretation, African masks and braids from experts such as the Thioune Brothers and Laetitia Bonnemain. Stories from Bonai and Mary Buendicha could also be heard as well as being able to taste the culinary specialities of Cape Verde, Ghana, Equatorial Guinea, Mauritania, Morocco and Senegal.

The end of the fiesta was provided by Khaly and Aly Thioune, two young Senegalese who gave a concert that officially ended the programme of Africa Vive, although the formal grand finale to the initiative will be provided by the the Diplomatic Council to be held in Madrid tomorrow Tuesday 27th May.

The previous day, the multinational band Nayaband and timple player Germán López staged, with a fusion of African and Canary Islands rhythms, the great musical event in Africa Vive in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.