La Laguna Noche en Blanco

[Janet]

This year, La Laguna's Noche en Blanco is this Saturday, 24 November. The previous three occasions have been roaring successes, and this one is set to go on longer than any. As before, shops will be open all night, there will be street entertainments on every pavement and around every corner, and cultural things going on in every historic building or museum with tour guides giving different sorts of guided tours at intervals throughout the night. The tram to Santa Cruz will run all night with increased services for the literally hundreds of thousands of people expected. For more information, see the Ayuntamiento's page on the event HERE, and there's also a map with event locations HERE. JA

[Guanche]

La Laguna over the past eleven years has transformed it's self. It's a real pleasure to walk around there, imho far nicer that Santa Cruz. The new indoor market is really good (don't ask me how to get there we got lost and just found it) The most noticeable thing is that nearly all the shops are open and trading unlike Santa Cruz.

Personally I would avoid driving there and take the tram from Santa Cruz. You may find you'll spend more time driving and queueing for a car parking space than you spend on the tram.

[Janet]

I think the place is fantastic. Just love it. It's got a really lively feel thanks to the nearby university campus, but still has an old and sophisticated feel to it. It's pretty, arty, cultured, civilized ...

The Hotel Aguere is beautiful, and the inside of the Teatro Leal opposite the hotel is simply gorgeous now it's been renovated (there are some fantastic photos HERE).

I went to a Noche en blanco in 2010 and wrote the following:

It was absolutely packed to the rafters in La Laguna last night. We got there around 9pm, thanks to the marvellous tram from the Intercambiador in Santa Cruz, and as we expected from the way the tram became increasingly packed as we neared La Laguna, the town was already packed. Local press says that by then there were already 120,000 or so there. By the time we left around midnight people were still pouring in and one could hardly move. There were musical performances, sideshows and fashion parades in the streets, something going on in every cultural building, and all the shops were open.

I have never seen such crowds in Tenerife, and I hope the businesses had a superb night. Not the night to move freely and enjoy the sights of the old town, perhaps, but for atmosphere, it could not be beaten. One thing I did see that I had not seen before, was the inside of the Iglesia de la Concepción, where various musical and theatrical performances were being staged. It is a gorgeous church, there is no other word for it, but then the whole town is. I already can't wait for my next visit. JA