What's on in Gran Canaria

Gran Canaria is often called a continent in miniature, and the round island earns it: the golden Maspalomas dunes and the resort strip in the south, pine forests and dramatic ravines climbing to the peak of Roque Nublo at the centre, and the lively port city of Las Palmas in the north with its old Vegueta quarter and the long Las Canteras beach. Between the busy south and the city you'll find mountain villages, banana plantations and the working fishing harbour of Puerto de Mogán, so there's a great deal more here than the resorts suggest.

The fiesta calendar is full all summer. San Juan on 23 June is huge — Las Palmas marks the city's foundation with bonfires and fireworks on Las Canteras beach, and the smaller towns light their own hogueras. Through July the island fills with culture: the Canarias Jazz & Más festival, the Granca Live Fest, and the timple-guitar concerts that celebrate the local instrument. The big patron-saint romerías and village fiestas — from the Fiestas Mayores de Gáldar to the saint's-day celebrations across the mountains — run right through the season, alongside Las Palmas' famous summer Pride.

Gran Canaria (LPA) airport sits between Las Palmas and the southern resorts, with flights from across the UK and Ireland and good motorway links both ways. Buses cover the coast and the city well, but a hire car is what reveals the real island — the central mountains, Roque Nublo, the inland villages and the quiet northern coves the tour buses skip.

Whether you're in a Playa del Inglés apartment, a Las Palmas hotel or a casa rural up in the hills, this is your guide to what's actually on while you're here — the romerías, festivals and local fiestas worth planning around.