Long before pumpkins arrived, the islands marked the eve of All Saints with the finaos — the finished ones, the departed. It is not a spooky night. Families sit together, roast chestnuts, put out walnuts, almonds and dried figs, pour ron miel and anís, and work through the family stories: who this one was, what that one did. The point is remembering out loud.
What to expect. Village squares and cultural centres across the island host public Finaos nights on 31 October and into 1 November — chestnuts on the brazier, timple and guitar, traditional singing, and a lot of talking. Agüimes, Gáldar, Santa Lucía de Tirajana and Teror all run good ones. Children still go from house to house asking ¿hay santos? and come back with nuts. Almost all of it is free.
Practical bit. Programmes come out through October, town by town, so check the ayuntamiento agenda for wherever you are staying rather than looking for one central listing. These are evening events in inland villages — Agüimes and Santa Lucía are half an hour up from the southern resorts, Gáldar an hour from Las Palmas — and a hire car is the difference between going and not.
