11th Tenerife Noir Festival Kicks Off March 4, Broadens Artistic Scope
The 11th Tenerife Noir festival begins its main events on March 4, expanding beyond crime fiction to explore the genre's influence across arts and academia with workshops, book launches, a tribute to noir comics featuring Howard Chaykin, and concerts by Juno Reactor.
The 11th Tenerife Noir festival kicks off its main events on March 4. This year, it aims to be more than just a crime fiction festival. It wants to encourage deep thinking by looking at the noir genre from many different angles. Organizers say the festival hopes to show that noir can influence many artistic and academic fields, making it a broad cultural movement.
The first part of the program focuses on writing skills and understanding how creative works are made. Author Espido Freire will host four workshops. These will focus on the research needed for genre writing, with help from mental health experts and police. Novelist Pablo Rivero will introduce his latest book, 'La Canguro' (Suma 2026). This novel explores family life and its tensions, fitting into the 'domestic noir' style. He will discuss his book at the Teatro de El Sauzal, in partnership with El barco de papel bookstore.
The literary events also include a panel discussion called 'Navigating through Shadows: Stories and Thriller in Contemporary Noir,' co-organized with El Refugio bookstore. El Refugio will also host book launches for 'El balanceo del Alacrán' by Eduardo Fernández-López, and 'Naif y más relatos indecorosos' by Rafael Bermúdez Llanos. Both books explore themes of suspense, revenge, and investigation.
A key part of this year's festival is a tribute to noir comics. It celebrates 40 years since two important works were released: 'Watchmen' by Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons, and John Higgins, and 'The Shadow: Blood & Judgment' by Howard Chaykin. On March 7 and 8, special events will feature screenings of film adaptations (in original language with subtitles), followed by talks with the authors. As part of this, Howard Chaykin will receive the Negra y Criminal 2026 award, a special recognition for his impact on modern noir comics, symbolized by an iconic borsalino hat. To go with this tribute, an exhibition called 'Femme Fatales, the gaze of Howard Chaykin' opens on March 5, put together by the Fundación Canaria Cine+Cómics. There will also be four limited-space book signings in the CajaCanarias Conference Room in Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
The festival also offers hands-on experiences. These include 'Crónicas de gangsters,' a historical re-enactment by the Cero Culture Cultural Association in the streets of La Laguna, and 'Quién fue: sombras en el bufete,' a detective-style play directed by El Antihéroe Teatro. Musically, Juno Reactor, led by Ben Watkins and famous for their work on the Matrix soundtracks, will play two concerts: one at Teatro Leal in Tenerife and another at Teatro Guiniguada in Gran Canaria. Saxophonist and composer Dani Nel·lo will also perform at the Paraninfo of the University of La Laguna. Other theatre events include 'El interrogatorio' by Luis Alemany, performed by the ULL Philology Theater Group. The CineXpress competition for new filmmakers will also begin.
For International Women's Day on March 8, there will be a literary event called 'Islas en negro,' focusing on crime fiction written by women from the Canary Islands.
Tenerife Noir receives support from several organizations, including the Ministry of Culture, the Government of the Canary Islands, the Cabildo de Tenerife, Turismo de Tenerife, and the City Councils of Santa Cruz de Tenerife and San Cristóbal de La Laguna, along with other partners. You can find the full program and buy tickets at www.tenerifenoir.com. This first set of events sets the stage for a festival that aims to broaden how we see the noir genre in all its forms.