Fiesta de las Marías 2023 | Guía
Guía is celebrating, the traditional ‘Fiesta de Las Marías’ between 15-17 September 2023.
This is a celebration with enormous popular roots that celebrates each year the Vow of Vergara , the promise that the peasants of the midlands of Gran Canaria made 212 years ago to the Virgin of Guía (a Marian dedication venerated in the municipality) as a sign of gratitude for having made the cicada plague that devastated the fields and their crops disappear.
The main events of this celebration are the Bajada de la Rama, which takes place on Saturday, September 16, from the Montaña de Vergara, in the midlands of Guiense, and the Procession and Pilgrimage the following day, Sunday the 17th. During this votive fiesta, the sound of conch shells, drums, and war boxes stands out (in allegory to the elements used to scare away the plague).
The Las Marías Festival – whose Pilgrimage stands out as one of the purest, most beautiful, and traditional in the Canary Islands – has been declared an Asset of Cultural Interest (BIC) and also has the distinction of the Roque Nublo de Plata from the Cabildo of Gran Canaria and the Gold Medal of the City of Guía.
PROGRAM 2023:
Friday 15 September:
at 20:30 The Estrella y Guía Cultural and Recreational Association present the traditional show ‘Coplas a Las Marías’ in the front of the Church. An event where music and faith go hand in hand. Music will bring everyone together to sing and venerate the Virgin of Las Marías, in an event that, as is tradition, will also feature the song of the Murga Los Chismosos dedicated to the Virgin.
Saturday, 16 September:
at 12:00 announcing festivities to begin on the esplanade of the church.
The Bajada de la Rama starts at 17:00 from Montaña alta Vergara, where people have gathered earlier. They will make their way down to the Plaza Grande, gathering more people with them whilst ascending until they reach the church where they give repeat their devotion promise and dance. People carrying branches and blowing seashells, and tambourines.
At 21:00 The 37th Folkloric Festival of the Marías with traditional dancing and music at Plaza Grande.
Sunday, 17 September: At 10:30 ‘paseo‘, a walk with animals participating in the romeria, through the streets to the esplanade of the church.
at 11:00 A solemn Eucharist and then Procession and Romería, the pilgrimage offering starts at 12:00. From the main highway, entering from Calle Médico Estévez -> San José -> Canónigo Gordillo -> Luis Suárez Galván and then the church.
at 17:00 Canarian music at Plaza Grande and at 19:00 Raffle
“Did you know that the Rama de las Marías is almost certainly the longest running of such Christian observances on Gran Canaria, since the historical records do not have previous references for other Ramas. In this sense, “La Rama” de Guía can be said to be the first in Gran Canaria.”
