What is happening in Ingenio on 21 November?
On Saturday 21 November 2026, Ingenio opens the Christmas season with the Encendido Navideño, the switch-on of the Christmas lights. The town council (Ayuntamiento) has chosen the motto “Ingenio, el mejor lugar para sentir la Navidad”, which means the best place to feel Christmas.
The programme starts at 17:00 with children's activities in front of the Casas Consistoriales, Ingenio's town hall. The council announces workshops and bouncy castles.
At 19:00 the Christmas parade (pasacalles) sets off along Calle Ramón y Cajal and across Plaza de la Candelaria. After the parade, the mayor officially switches on the lights.
The well-known children's group Cantajuego performs after the lights go on, aimed at children and families. Los Salvapantallas close the evening.
What else is there to see besides the parade?
Two parks get their own Christmas decorations: the Parque Francisco Tarajano and the Parque Néstor Álamo. The council invites visitors to stroll, explore and take photos there, with a different theme in each park.
A Christmas market (mercadillo navideño) takes place in the Parque Néstor Álamo on 21 and 22 November. According to the announcement, it focuses on food and drink.
The market also runs on Sunday 22 November. Anyone busy on Saturday evening can come on Sunday, although the announcement gives no opening hours.
The council plans to announce the full Christmas programme shortly. It says the programme is the work of several departments and a large team.
What should visitors from the south check beforehand?
Ingenio lies in the south-east of Gran Canaria. In 2024 it had 32,747 residents according to the INE, the national statistics office, as the town's Plan de Actuación Integrado Ingenio 2030 states, and the municipality covers 38.15 square kilometres.
The announcement says nothing about admission, nor whether every event is free. It also gives no word on road closures or parking rules along the parade route.
The council has not published details on getting there by bus (guagua) either. Drivers should allow extra time to find a parking space before the 19:00 parade.
The town hall answers questions on 928 780 076. The announcement appeared on the council's website on 9 November 2026.
The name Ingenio comes from a sugar mill, and sugar cane and farming shaped the local economy from the 16th century. The airport and the GC-1 motorway, both from the 1960s, drove later growth, according to the council's transparency portal.
How did the Christmas season begin in Ingenio in earlier years?
Last year the switch-on fell on 22 November 2025, according to the published schedule for the Canary Islands. This year's date is one day earlier.
Other towns on the island switched on later in 2025: Santa María de Guía on 27 November, Gáldar on 28 November, and Mogán and Tejeda on 29 November. In Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, the main switch-on took place on 4 December in the Plaza de Santa Ana.
In 2019 the programme in Ingenio began on Thursday 5 December at 20:00 in the Parque Los Aromeros in Carrizal. Children pressed the switch together with the then mayor, Ana Hernández.
The 2025 programme ran into January, according to extracts from the council's brochure, and included an ice rink in the Parque Los Aromeros from 19 December to 5 January. Whether the same items return in 2026 is not confirmed.
What happens after 22 November?
The full 2026 Christmas programme is not yet available. The council says it will announce it shortly.
The council has not named a publication date. It has also given no figures on the cost or budget of the lights.
So far only the evening of 21 November and the market on 22 November are confirmed. Everything else, from December dates to Three Kings Day, is still to come.