The musical groups (agrupaciones musicales) are the Carnival's orchestras. With brass, Latin percussion and vocals, they play salsa, merengue, son and other Caribbean rhythms in a contest that, since the late eighties, has become one of the most followed of the festival.
What is a musical group
A musical group is a carnival band that combines an instrumental line-up (trumpets, trombones, saxophones, keyboards, bass, congas, timbales, güiro...) with singers and backing vocals. Unlike the murga, it does not live on criticism but on dancing: its goal is that nobody stands still. Every year they prepare their own repertoire, which usually includes unreleased songs, and costumes to match their theme.
Why it sounds Caribbean
Caribbean music is very present in the Canary Islands because of a shared history: for generations, thousands of Canary Islanders emigrated to Cuba and Venezuela, and families coming and going brought rhythms, orchestras and customs with them. The Santa Cruz Carnival reflects this: the Venezuelan Billo's Caracas Boys popularised the best-known version of the anthem “Santa Cruz en Carnaval”, and in 1987 they accompanied Celia Cruz in the concert that entered the Guinness Book of Records.
The contest
Our archive records musical group awards since 1987 and the Performance contest since 1988, when the group Teide won. The jury awards prizes for Performance (the main one: see the roll of honour), Presentation (best costume) and best original song, as well as the audience award, the creativity award and the Abuelo Ramón Prize. Groups such as Chaxiraxi and Caña Dulce have strung together wins for years.
In the street
Musical groups are regulars on the stages of the Carnival dances and at neighbourhood parties, and they parade in the Announcement Parade and the Coso. The Carnival also has groups made up of older people, more focused on Canarian folklore, who keep the tradition alive across generations.
Sources: Carnaval Chicharrero awards archive and the Wikipedia article “Carnaval de Santa Cruz de Tenerife”.