LIVE FOLK LORE MUSIC at Spanish Artisan Fair

Live folk lore music 

PARRANDA LAS LABADORES

at the 35th Feria de Artisania de Lanzarote Mancha Blanca September 2024

I have mentioned before on these pages that I find it remarkable that Lanzarote, its people and its government and its churches and its social services try, and succeed in doing so, to create a powerful unity of politics and religion and the arts and the artisans into almost every public event. I am sure that is what puts the smiles on the faces of those partaking and those in the audience.

That was obvious again today. As so many people wandered the trade stalls, so many other people were sitting in front of a smallish, temporary stage waiting for the folk-lore group Parranda Los Labradors to begin their outdoor concert in the centre of all the artisanship. To be honest, nobody was getting too impatient because even the sound checks and individual runs and riffs sounded pretty good. The 150 or so seats had all been taken by us and 148 others, and we enjoyed an hour of folk music. Thirteen musicians and four vocalists sent rhyme and rhythm racing into the blue-sky day. Four female singers, one of whom was also playing guitar, created a huge, and beautifully sung Spector-like wall of sound.

There were many obviously humorous songs, with all kinds of hollers and hoops and other strange sounds but I always think that what is common to the best of such groups is the instruments. Today there were guitars, and round back mandolins. There were timples and castanets and big drum percussion.

Suddenly, a new party of people were at the side of the stage. These folk were some of the old and frail of Lanzarote who had been invited by the organisers and were accompanied by their professional carers, and now was the time for another concert by the same group for this new audience.

We were all asked on the microphone by one of the band members if we would all kindly vacate our seats for our special guests.

The audience rose as one and retreated to stand behind the back row of seats immediately occupied by, happy, smiley people, and their equally happy, smiley carers.

One of the carers distributed around 150 red roses between the elderly, who were soon on their feet, rose in hand, or mouth, and were swaying happily to the music and singing along to old songs, much-loved.

When the concert was over we took a long tour through the artisan market and then wandered fifty yards down the hill, and sat outdoors at a corner bar. Dee´s white wine was beautifully chilled she said and I told her it couldn´t possibly compare to my cold beer in a frosted pint glass. These drinks were a great complement to two very full bowls of chickpeas. We each then had another drink and our bill still only came to 22 Euros including tip.

Half an hour later we followed across the road to where the carers and their charges were gathered in front of the village´s beautiful church.

Also in front of the church was a statue of Virgin de los Dolores (Virgin of Sorrows) the Patron Saint of the Island of Lanzarote brought outside so that the elderly and their cares could each lay their single rose on the statue.

There was nothing false or forced about any of this. It was just another joyful, and joyous, moment on a day of so many such moments.

We heard no bad language, nobody was barging past people and in fact it was a day with patience in abundance: the kind of patience the artisans have shown over a life-time of honing their crafts