Pick your soundtrack when you holiday in Tenerife – from festival dance music, to classical, jazz, Latin, Irish and, of course, traditional Spanish and Canary Island rhythms.
Dance-crazy clubbers can enjoy a succession of open-air festivals, most around Costa Adeje in the south, with the golf complex and Siam Park waterpark among venues.
April’s I Love Music gives the season a rousing start – 2019 featured four stages and an audience of swaying thousands – and has featured artists including Craig David and the Dutch DJ Don Diablo, while Rhythms of the World is true to its name in June with an international line-up which has included Trinidadian DJ Jillionaire and Britain’s own Nic Fanciulli.
August sees both the Elrow festival, part of a franchise partying across the world, and Sunblast 360, and the excitement continues into September with Summer Jam, with the likes of Dutch DJ R3hab and American Steve Aoki.
Southern resorts like Costa Adeje, Los Cristianos and Playa de las Americas are particularly renowned for their nightlife, but there are lively clubs across the island.
If you’re looking for traditional Canaries music, La Orotava, on the northern coast, is a hotbed for folk groups, playing specialised instruments such as the guitar-like timple, while there’s cabaret and karaoke at bars like Dreamers and the Market Tavern in Los Cristianos, Latin rhythms in the Achaman bar at Costa Adeje and Azucar in Puerto de la Cruz, and Irish style at Temple Bar and The Irish Fiddler in Costa Adeje.
For classical tastes, Tenerife Auditorium in Santa Cruz de Tenerife is home to the Tenerife Symphony Orchestra, whose 2020 programme features Dvorák’s New World symphony and Wagner’s Parsifal, while forthcoming operas include Verdi’s La Traviata.
The nearby Guimerà Theatre is the centre of the five-week Canaries’ Music Festival in January and February, attracting international classical ensembles.