Lanzarote’s International Festival of the Environment, Langaia, gets underway on the island from December 9th to the 15th. The event aims to unite various strands of the arts and sciences with a specific focus on sustainable development.

The festival programme covers a wide raft of acticities including everything from live music, film screenings and street performances through to trekking and a range of activities for children. The opening ceremony takes place on Sunday 9th December in Teguise, with a performance by BatucadaMenudaCaña at 10.30, a speech setting out the manifesto of the festival at 11.00 and a cross country walk from Teguise to Guatiza at 11.15, with buses scheduled to return participants from Guatiza at 14.00.

Between 10th and 14th December there will be numerous activities, such as recycling workshops, organized in conjunction with local schools to raise awareness of environmental issues amongst local children.

At the Island Library in Arrecife there will be several Cineforums, where films are screened and then discussed between 11th December and 14th. The films are all scheduled to begin at 20.30, beginning with ‘Canarias – Stronghold of Biodiversity’ directed by Pedro Felipe Acosta, followed by ‘Crude Dilemma – Part 1 and 2’ and ending with ‘Taro – the Eco of Manrique’ on Friday 14th. Scientific discussions on topics such as ‘Petroleum Prospecting in the Canaries’ will be tabled on Friday 14th from 17.00 and will also take place at the Island Library.

During the day on Saturday 15th December, the area behind the beach at Famara, known as El Jable, will have clean up squads in attendance from 09.00 to help with litter collection. A closing concert in the evening is being held at the Convent of Santo Domingo in Teguise from 21.00 and features ‘Voices for Nature’.