Víspera de la Virgen de Las Nieves: rosario, misa por la Paz y procesión de las candelasverified
On the eve of La Palma's patron saint day, the Real Santuario de Las Nieves opens the fiesta with a rosary, a Mass for Peace, a traditional festival and, after dark, the candle procession around the church.
La Palma's biggest fiesta does not begin on the 5th, but the evening before. On 4 August, the eve of the feast of Nuestra Señora de Las Nieves, the Real Santuario Insular opens the programme with the rosary at 18:30 and the Mass for Peace at 19:00.
At 20:00 comes the Festival Tradicional de Las Nieves, and after dark, at 22:00, the solemn novena Mass gives way to the candle procession around the church. It is the quietest moment of the whole celebration: the sanctuary ringed with light, before the entire island climbs up here the following day.
The novena runs from 6 to 12 August, closing with the octave of the Virgin.