This weekend on Gran Canaria: Molan Los 90, Surf Fest and the club night

The highlight of the weekend: Molan Los 90

The weekend you go out for belongs to Saturday: Molan Los 90 comes to Gran Canaria for the first time and turns the grounds at the Ciudad Deportiva in Maspalomas into one big dance floor from 7pm to 1am.

The touring nineties festival brings the voices that once filled every disco: Snap with «Rhythm Is a Dancer», the Valencia veteran Chimo Bayo, the US house diva Ultra Naté and Miranda. In between come DJ sets, confetti, walls of light and the anthems everyone sings along to — eurodance, remember and Italo, for three hours and more.

It is the kind of night where the generation that grew up on these songs dances next to its own kids. The weather plays along: dry and mild around 22 degrees, with the grey June «panza de burro» overcast breaking up in the afternoon. And when the festival closes at one, the southern night is far from over — the drag stages of the Yumbo and the clubs of the CC Cita carry on.

Friday 12 June

Las Palmas Founding Festivities (Fiestas Fundacionales). The capital turns 548, and the programme opens this Friday on Plaza de Santa Ana with the pregon by Lourdes Santana, head of Cadena SER in the Canaries, followed by the first big concert from the Gran Canaria Big Band. The same evening, the gardens of the Castillo de La Luz host the Galician multi-instrumentalist Abraham Cupeiro with the Municipal Symphonic Band in the show «Pangea». Entry is free. The festivities run under the motto «Rebelion de la Geografia» until 26 June.

Gran Canaria Surf Fest. At Playa de la Cícer, the surf stretch of Las Canteras, the surf festival opens its weekend. Three days of competition — the Spanish Parasurfing Championship, the national-circuit Longboard Challenge and the Surf No Limit by the Fundación DISA — plus talks, a market, food stalls and music along the Avenida de las Canteras. Free entry, running until Sunday.

Gran Noche de la Víspera de San Antonio. Up in the hill town of Santa Brígida, the great eve of the patron-saint fiesta starts at 8pm on the fairground by the car park: DJ Aythami Navas, a tribute to El Canto del Loco, plus Pepe Benavente, Los Salvapantallas and Aseres. A free street party — the opening of the fiesta weekend in the north.

With the evening, the club night begins. In Vegueta the bars fill up; in the south the Yumbo terraces open. The addresses are further down.

Saturday 13 June

Cristina Ramos in Vegueta. As part of the Founding Festivities, the Canarian singer brings her show «60 anos de soul en el Atlantico» to Plaza de Santa Ana on Saturday, a history of soul in front of the cathedral, with free entry.

Molan Los 90 — Ciudad Deportiva de Maspalomas, from 7pm. The highlight of the weekend (see above); tickets via molanlos90.com and tomaticket.es.

Poseidón RockFest. If you like it heavier, head to Telde: the Auditorio of the Parque San Juan hosts the first edition of this rock and metal festival, led by the Swedish melodic rockers H.E.A.T and the German stoner veterans Kadavar, with local bands The Zeronaut and Malamutte. Tickets via tickety.es.

San Antonio in Santa Brígida. The procession moves through the town by day; in the evening a concert by Nia Correia at 9pm, then the verbena with the Orquesta Armonía Show and DJ Promaster — dancing in the open air until late.

Out at La Cícer the surf heats run on. And Saturday carries the strongest club night of the week — in Las Palmas and in the Yumbo Centre alike.

Sunday 14 June

Musica en el corazon de Vegueta. On Sunday the festivities move the music to the morning: from 11am, ensembles play across the historic quarter, from the Colegio de Abogados to the Casa de Colon and Plaza del Pilar Nuevo. An open, family-friendly festive morning in the old town, also free.

Gran Canaria Surf Fest — final day. The quieter day of the weekend belongs to the beach. At La Cícer the titles are decided: the finals of the Parasurfing Championship, with names such as six-time world champion Aitor Francesena and double world champion Sarah Almagro, followed by the prize-giving. The market and the music on the promenade carry on, entry free.

In the north the San Antonio fiestas wind down — in Santa Brígida and in Telde, with procession and verbena. Otherwise Sunday on Gran Canaria traditionally belongs to the seafront promenade and the chiringuitos rather than the big stage. In the south, though, the Yumbo Centre runs on Sunday evening too — the drag shows take no weekly break.

Las Palmas: the clubs

This weekend the old town also carries the capital’s own fiesta: the Founding Festivities bring open-air concerts to Plaza de Santa Ana and fill Vegueta with extra life, before and after the stages the bars around Calle Mendizabal fill up by themselves.

Las Palmas weekend nightlife spreads across three districts. In Vegueta and Triana, the old town, the bars around Calle Mendizábal — the «street of the pinchos» —, Plaza de Santa Ana and the terraces by the CC Monopol fill up from late evening. The best-known room in the quarter is Alboroto on Calle Remedios, the former Paper Club: a hall for around 400 with a terrace, its programme swinging between indie gig, tribute band and DJ night. Add La Biblioteca Vegueta, a club set in a library on Calle Pelota, and, for the quieter cocktail, the rooftop La Azotea de Benito above the CC Monopol.

Along the Playa de las Canteras the night runs by the beach. The Moma Club on the Paseo is the address for electronic music and techno with an alternative crowd, open until 6am on Fridays and Saturdays. Near the sand the open-air Tao terrace at the Jardines Alonso Quesada plays commercial music, and for live sounds there is La Guarida del Blues further along the Paseo, a small stage for blues and rock.

The third hub is Santa Catalina and the port — a dense run of bars, discotecas and clubs that go until dawn. Fortuni draws the younger crowd here, Thursday to Saturday from 11pm to half past five, alongside Chester and the karaoke bar Paraninfo Generación X; for the view over the city, the rooftops El Tendedero de Catalina and Alis Rooftop. A little out of the centre, on the Ctra. del Rincón next to the Auditorio Alfredo Kraus, the Mojo Club runs as a disco and concert hall from Thursday to Saturday. Few places charge entry — you pay for the drinks.

The south: Yumbo, CC Cita and the lifestyle scene

In the south the Yumbo Centre is the island's best-known going-out hub after sunset: four storeys in Playa del Inglés, in large part LGBTQ+ but open to all. Its signature is the drag shows, every night and the weekend included — at Ricky's Cabaret Bar from 10.30pm, at the Sparkles Show Bar with karaoke from 9pm and the show at 11pm, plus Chez Funny Boy's, Buddies, Centre Stage and Terry's. The evening starts on the terraces — Spartacus, Eiffel, Voulez Vous, Gran Café Latino or Adonis. After midnight the dance venues take over: Mykonos, the campier Tubos, Coco Loco and finally Mantrix, the biggest club, open until 6am. For commercial dance charts rather than a drag show, the Kasbah Centre in San Agustín is the call.

The CC Cita sits in the heart of Playa del Inglés, a few steps from the Yumbo, and is the centre of the south's lifestyle and swinger scene. The largest room is the Swingers Club Secret in the basement, where reggaeton and Spanish house can pull more than 500 people; things are easier-going at Fun4all, with several playrooms and its own BDSM room. Add HOTSPOT Gran Canaria, the Comeback Bar, Plan B, Tantra and Majestic GC, also known as Mario's Bar. The neighbouring CC Sandia holds the 2x2 Swingers Club. The scene is matter-of-fact and discreet; entry is for adults only and proof of age is required.

The cruise and fetish scene around the Yumbo has a tradition of its own. The Cruise Bar has been going since 1994, alongside Tom's Cruising Bar, Strong Construction on the Yumbo ground floor, NOXON on the first floor with a fetish and cruising programme, the large The Factory and the Zoo Men's Cruising Bar. For a calmer end of this scene, the Sauna Enjoy Maspalomas on the Avenida de Tirajana.

For live music rather than club sound, the south keeps a small, loyal row of stages. The Tipsy Hammock Bar on the Paseo Costa Canarias plays with DJs and live sets until 2am, Café Mozart 2 and the neighbouring Al's Bar at the Gran Chaparral Centre go for acoustic and covers nights, the Irish Dunes & Tunes on the Maspalomas promenade for sing-along, and Café del Mar Meloneras on the Plaza del Faro for sunset sets over the sea.

FAQ

Where do I get tickets for Molan Los 90 and the Poseidón RockFest?

Molan Los 90 runs through molanlos90.com and tomaticket.es; the Poseidón RockFest in Telde through tickety.es and salanproducciones.com. The Gran Canaria Surf Fest at La Cícer and the San Antonio street parties in Santa Brígida need no ticket — entry is free, as it is at most clubs and bars.

How late are the clubs open?

In Las Palmas, clubs such as Fortuni and the Moma Club run from late evening until around 6am on Fridays and Saturdays. In the Yumbo Centre in the south the drag shows run all evening and the dance venues until dawn, with Mantrix open until 6am. The principle everywhere on the island: arriving early is pointless, the night is long.

What works with family and without entry?

The Gran Canaria Surf Fest at La Cícer is the open-air pick of the weekend: competition heats, a market, food stalls and music along the promenade, all free. Add the San Antonio fiestas in Santa Brígida, with their open-air verbenas.

Is the CC Cita lifestyle and swinger scene open to visitors?

Yes. The clubs in the CC Cita are open to an adult public; proof of age is required, the tone is matter-of-fact, and each club sets its own house rules. They are a long-standing part of Playa del Inglés nightlife.