This weekend on Gran Canaria, 17–19 July 2026: Soul Festival, Fiestas del Carmen and the club night

The highlight: three days of soul on San Agustín beach

The weekend belongs to the sea and the music. From 17 to 19 July, Playa de San Agustín turns into an open-air stage for the tenth time for the Maspalomas Costa Canaria Soul Festival — «Cuando el sol calienta», when the sun warms, is the motto of the anniversary edition. Entry is free, confirmed by the municipality of San Bartolomé de Tirajana.

The setting is the draw. The dark volcanic sand holds the warmth of the day, the Atlantic rolls behind the stage, and once the sun sinks into the sea, the groove takes over. The weather is playing along: a dry weekend, around 26 degrees in Las Palmas, up to 32 in the south, mild nights around 23 degrees and no rain in sight — the conditions a beach festival needs.

Around fifteen bands and soloists are on the programme across the three days, plus food trucks with Canarian specialities and a family area. If you are coming by car, know this: parking around San Agustín is hopeless on these days — the blue Global buses from Playa del Inglés and Las Palmas are the better choice, especially for the ride home deep in the night.

Friday 17 July

Soul Festival, first night. From about 7.30pm Manel Ruiz «El Especialista» opens, at 8.30pm Koko-Jean & The Tonics follow with their blend of rhythm and blues and funk. From 10pm the Memphis Music Hall of Fame Band and the trio of Shunta Mosby, Dani McGhee and Candy Fox take over, before Bigg Robb (10.50pm) and Dot. Moore (11.50pm) carry the night. The grand finale comes around half past midnight.

José James at the Teatro Pérez Galdós. If you prefer your soul in a concert hall: the New York singer brings his programme «Marvin Gaye’s I Want You» to the stage with Célia Kameni, as part of the Canarias Jazz & Más festival. Starts at 8pm, tickets from 30 euros via the usual platforms.

In the north, the big week of the Fiestas del Carmen in La Isleta runs in parallel. On Friday evening the festival queen and Miss Isleta 2026 are chosen, followed by the tribute show «Bachata Rosa» honouring Juan Luis Guerra — a crowd night in the middle of the fishing quarter. And when the stages close, the club night begins: the bars of Vegueta fill up and the discotecas around Santa Catalina get going. The addresses are further down.

Saturday 18 July

Soul Festival, second night. Saturday is the strongest festival day. From 7.30pm Dr. Wampush and John Ellison play, again with the Memphis Music Hall of Fame Band and the trio of Mosby, McGhee and Fox. At 10.50pm Karen Wolfe sings, and then a soul legend takes the stage in Lenny Williams — familiar to many as the voice of Tower of Power. The grand finale closes the night around midnight.

Romería-Ofrenda in La Isleta. At 5pm the traditional offering procession sets off from the Explanada del Sebadal: residents in Canarian dress, decorated carts and food donations, which this year go to Cáritas. In the evening, Plaza Manuel Becerra belongs to the Baile de Taifas, DJ Airam Vega and Grupo La Combinación.

Santiago fever in Tunte and Gáldar. A week before the apostle’s day, the romerías are on the move: in Tunte, the mountain village of the municipality of San Bartolomé de Tirajana, the Romería-Ofrenda crosses the village on Saturday at 8.30pm, and from 11.30pm Star Music, Havana 500 and Grupo D’Música take over the Fiesta del Romero. Gáldar in the north-west holds its Romería-Ofrenda for Santiago de los Caballeros at 5.30pm, from the Bajada de Las Guayarminas along Capitán Quesada to the Plaza de Santiago; afterwards the square belongs to the Baile de Taifa and the sessions of DJ Promaster and Aythami DJ.

Bajada de La Rama in Arguineguín. Mogán celebrates too: at 6pm the brass bands of La Aldea and Archipiélago lead the Bajada de La Rama through Arguineguín, green branches held high. Afterwards the fiesta moves into the night — verbenas and DJ sessions around the market square and the beach-bar strip on Calle José Manuel Santana, with the Armonía Show orchestra among others.

Partying in the capital, beyond the clubs. Parque Santa Catalina hosts the Burger Fest Canarias all weekend — more than 25 burger joints, free entry, on Saturday with the Spanish-pop tribute La Tribu Pop from 8pm and Sanfry from 9.45pm. In the fishing quarter of San Cristóbal, the patron saint verbena starts at 10pm, with a DJ into the early hours. And if you fancy white: at La Majadilla near Telde, the third Fiesta en Blanco runs from 5pm with Orquesta La Mayork, Yet Garbey and, at midnight, Pepe Benavente — white dress requested.

Two dates for the ears. In Santa Brígida, the Hamilton de Holanda Trio and the Manon Mullener 5tet play at 7.30pm with free entry in the Parque Municipal — a stop of the Canarias Jazz & Más festival. And in Playa del Inglés, Milanese singer Gio Box performs her ABBA tribute: at 9pm at the Three Sisters Pub in the Yumbo Centre, then at 10.30pm at Café Bolle Jan in the CC Cita.

Saturday carries the strongest club night of the week, in Las Palmas as in the Yumbo Centre. Where exactly, is in the last two sections.

Sunday 19 July

Soul Festival, the wind-down. Sunday belongs to midday and to families. From 12 noon the Escuela Municipal de Música de San Bartolomé de Tirajana plays, at 1pm the City Dock Band — the relaxed vermouth session on the beach before the festival comes to an end.

Día del Hombre del Mar in La Isleta. Sunday is a day of the sea. After mass, the procession sets off around 6pm through the streets Benartemi and Juan Rejón towards Puerto de La Luz; around 7.30pm the figure of the Virgen del Carmen is carried onto a Spanish Navy vessel and taken out onto open water — every year the emotional peak of the fiestas. Open to the public, no ticket needed. In Tunte, meanwhile, the festival weekend winds down with the solemn Eucharist and the soloists’ gathering «Canarias Canta», featuring Pedro Manuel Afonso, Iván Quintana and José Ángel Suárez «El Rubio».

Procession from Arguineguín to Playa de Mogán. In the south, too, the Virgen del Carmen takes to the water: in Arguineguín the figure is carried to the harbour at 9am, and after the Eucharist on the papal stage she sails along the coast in a boat procession to Playa de Mogán, where at 10.30am the local Carmen figure receives the municipal staff of command. Back in the capital, the weekend winds down in worldlier fashion: at the Burger Fest in Parque Santa Catalina, DJ Fano Sánchez plays from 8.30pm, and San Cristóbal serves its big fish grill by the sea from noon to 4pm.

If you are spending Sunday in the south: at Café Mozart 2 in the CC Anexo II, the Frühschoppen with live music starts at 11am — an institution among German-speaking residents. In the evening Gio Box sings at 9pm at Ristorante La Piazza in the same centre. And the Yumbo Centre takes no weekly break — the drag shows run on Sunday too.

Las Palmas: the clubs of the weekend

The capital’s weekend nightlife spreads across three districts. In Vegueta and Triana, the old town, the bars around Calle Mendizábal and Plaza de Santa Ana fill up from late evening. The best-known venue is The Paper Club on Calle Los Remedios — a 400-capacity hall with a terrace, its programme swinging between indie gigs, tribute bands and DJ nights. Alongside it, the big Alboroto with indoor and outdoor floors, the Biblioteca in its library setting and, for a quieter cocktail, the rooftop La Azotea de Benito on Plaza de las Ranas.

Along Playa de las Canteras, the nightlife runs by the beach. The Moma Club is the address for techno and electronic music with an alternative crowd, Fridays and Saturdays into the early hours. Add the terrace bars along the promenade and the open-air Tao terrace in Garden City with commercial music.

The third hub is Santa Catalina and the port area, a dense run of bars and discotecas until dawn. Fortuni draws the younger crowd, Chester leans on reggaeton and Latin, and for electronic nights there are Pacha Gran Canaria and El Baladero. For live music, try the Mojo Club and Sala Faro. Few venues charge entry — you pay for the drinks.

The south: Yumbo, CC Cita and the lifestyle scene

In the south, the Yumbo Centre in Playa del Inglés is the island’s best-known going-out strip — four storeys, largely LGBTQ+ after sunset but open to everyone. Its signature is the drag shows, every night and on the weekend too: at Ricky’s Cabaret Bar around 10.30pm, at the Sparkles Show Bar with karaoke from 9pm and the show from 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 Mantrix, open until 6am. For commercial dance charts, the Kasbah Centre is a few steps away.

The CC Cita sits in the heart of Playa del Inglés, just a few steps from the Yumbo, and is the heart of the resort’s lifestyle and swinger scene. The biggest name is the Swingers Club Secret in the basement — a sprawling club with reggaeton and Spanish house, over 500 guests on busy nights. Things are more relaxed at Fun4all, with several playrooms and a dedicated BDSM room. Add HOTSPOT Gran Canaria, the Comeback Bar, Plan B, Tantra and Majestic GC with the attached Mario’s Bar; in the neighbouring CC Sandía there is the 2x2 Swingers Club. All lifestyle venues are adults-only and proof of age is required. The Cita is not lifestyle alone, though: the same centre houses Café Bolle Jan, where Gio Box sings on Saturday at 10.30pm.

The south’s men’s scene includes a row of cruise and fetish bars. The Cruise Bar in the Yumbo has been running since 1994, joined by Tom’s Cruising Bar, Strong Construction on the Yumbo’s ground floor, NOXON on the first floor with its fetish and cruising programme, The Factory and the Zoo Men’s Cruising Bar. For the sauna, there is Sauna Enjoy Maspalomas on Avenida de Tirajana. Here too: entry from 18, and a discreet, matter-of-fact tone.

And for anyone who would rather end the evening with a band than a DJ, the south has its live music corners: the Tipsy Hammock Bar on Paseo Costa Canarias, open until 2am, Café Mozart 2 and Al’s Bar in the Gran Chaparral Centre, Dunes & Tunes in Maspalomas and Café del Mar on Plaza del Faro in Meloneras for sunset.

FAQ

How much is entry to the Soul Festival?

Entry to the Maspalomas Costa Canaria Soul Festival is free on all three days. The same goes for the Fiestas del Carmen in La Isleta, the romerías in Tunte and Gáldar and for most clubs and bars — you pay for the drinks. Only the José James concert at the Teatro Pérez Galdós needs a ticket, from 30 euros via the usual platforms.

How do I get to the festival without a car?

Parking around San Agustín is barely possible during the festival. The blue Global buses connect Playa del Inglés, Maspalomas and Las Palmas well with San Agustín; for the ride home after the late sets, check the night timetable or take a taxi.

How late are the clubs open?

In Las Palmas, clubs such as Fortuni or Pacha play into the early hours. At the Yumbo Centre the drag shows run all evening and the dance venues until about 6am. The principle everywhere: arriving early is pointless, the night is long.

What works for families this weekend?

Sunday midday at the Soul Festival is family-friendly — from 12 noon with the Escuela Municipal de Música and the City Dock Band, plus food trucks on the beach. In the south, the Frühschoppen at Café Mozart 2 starts at 11am, and the maritime procession of the Fiestas del Carmen in La Isleta is public and free.

Can I rely on the programme?

Line-ups and times come from the published programmes of the organisers and municipalities; last-minute changes can never be ruled out at events of this size. Information as of 18 July 2026.