Never let it be said that nothing happens in Tenerife, another hot Sunday evening and I found myself with two free events to squeeze in. Heading over to Playa de Las Americas I arrived in good time for the Ratha Yatra festival in Calle Siete Islas, organised by the Hindu Association of Tenerife South. Ratha Yatra is the festival of the chariots and celebrates the visit of Lord Jagannath to Gundicha Temple, in the full cerremony three of the large mobile temples are used in cart form but for this smaller version one chariot stood proud and colourful as curious holiday makers streamed by on their way to the party hot spots of Las Americas.

I have been to several other Hindu events over here like the Festival of Divine Light held on La Caleta beach and they have always been well attended but we seemed to be lacking people for the latest celebration. The Hindu association like to reach out to the wider community and pre publicity was good with posters up around the south for a couple of weeks but an hour after the advertised start there was no dancing on the stage and officials including Arona councillors shuffled around restlessly. With an 11 pm advertised finish it was going to be a bit rushed and sadly I couldn’t hang around as my next visit was beckoning.

The piano concert Sin Limite (no limits) with Rudolf Cicko and Miluse Cickova was a late and free addition to the programme at the Auditorio Infanta Leonor behind the Los Cristianos Cultural Centre and didn’t appear in the free monthly ACA (Agenda Cultural Arona)booklet. Some posters were put up around town so I hoped for a decent turnout at the 800 seat auditorium but there were barely 100 by the start. A nervous Rudlolf took to the stage and explained that the concert would be in two parts, first him solo on piano and then with a group, aah that explained the extra instruments.

Starting with some heavy classical works Rudolf moved through some lighter pieces such as Love Story, and Flight Of The Bumblebee before taking a brief bow and ushering three colleagues onto the stage. Rudolf moved to a small electric organ and two ladies grabbed the microphones from their stands, at the rear a chap who had been filming the performance from the seats slid onto the drum stool – so much for a break. Unchain My Heart, Thank You For The Music and Respect all followed as a lighter mood settled on the audience. It was a real whirlwind of a show as they rattled through the whole set in just over an hour, and an enjoyable way to spend a Sunday night. The Auditorium was opened in March 2011 and has a wide range of shows from music to theatre, many of them costing a mere 10 euros, I was wondering how they could support the basic costs of a free show but before and after the music, the cafe bar terrace outside picked up plenty of extra trade. Los Cristianos is lucky to have such a fine facillity, I’m going to make an effort to get to more shows.