La Orotava's Young Art Fair Showcases Talent, Canarian Culture

Andrea Estévez sits, brush in hand, painting a girl looking up at the dome of the Church of La Concepción, a well-known symbol of the town. In front of her, a table displays some of her art: illustrations, bookmarks, and fans, all sharing a common goal – to revive Canarian culture. "We are losing our heritage," says Estévez, who has been an artist for over seven years.

Estévez is one of many young artists who showcased their work this morning at the Young Art Fair on La Orotava Street. This event is a must-attend for artisans, musicians, graffiti artists, and illustrators from across the island. Their art transforms the city streets into a vibrant open-air gallery. For the twenty-sixth year, the streets of Villa de La Orotava have become a public display for new art, where painting, music, and theatre come together to create a lively and inspiring atmosphere.

Young people from all over Tenerife display their art in the heart of the Villa, giving them a chance to show their work in the biggest and most visited gallery in the Canary Islands. Families and art lovers wander through the Fair, enjoying the mild weather and sunny autumn Sunday, along the path from the Teobaldo Power Auditorium to the town hall.

Three-year-old Román is enjoying a tradition his family has kept since the Fair first began. "We come every year," his mother says, just before Román slips into Lis Peña's cooking workshop tent. Peña greets him with a smile. For now, he's the only one brave enough to enter, but throughout the morning, many more children will be encouraged to put on a chef's hat and apron and become little chefs.

Lis Peña's activity for curious visitors is quite simple. Those who join her workshop must assemble a "pinchito" (small snack) using a puff pastry wafer, a gofio and banana paste, a piece of grape, and some chocolate chips. Once he finishes, Román quickly eats the grape and licks the chocolate from his fingers.

But cooking is just one of many activities the Fair offers to entertain the youngest family members. Along the route, children can also design bookmarks with dried flowers, create pictures with papier-mâché and paint, decorate caps, or paint Nativity scene figures. Visitors can even meet Fújur the dragon from The NeverEnding Story, who, with Atreyu and the Childlike Empress, opens his mouth, turns around, and even coughs at people passing by.

The Fair is known for its "living art" concept, where art isn't just static but comes alive right on the street. Alejandro Hernández tries to sculpt his mother's face from a lump of clay on a street named after the sculptor Fernando Estévez, who was born and raised there. Hernández, a Fine Arts graduate currently working on his doctoral thesis, makes time to attend the event.

In just half an hour, he has already sculpted his mother's features. She sits in front of him, supporting what has been his dream since he was too young to read. "First I wanted to be a truck driver, but at 5 years old I changed to sculptor, and here I am," Hernández explains. He chats with everyone who approaches but never stops focusing on his work.

Laura Domínguez has been an illustrator for eight years, though she's only been showing her work publicly for three. The young watercolor artist is happy that initiatives like the one organised by the La Orotava Town Hall exist. "We need these kinds of places where we can show our work; what we do is not mass-produced and it is unique," Domínguez states.

Her works include illustrations that bring a fantasy world to life, as well as others that highlight Canarian natural heritage, such as Teide or the Giant Lizard of El Hierro. She uses vivid colours and a figurative style. "We already have enough reality; I wanted this work to be striking and chose this style," she notes.