Gran Canaria in October is much the same as Gran Canaria in September and November. The usual warm Autumn weather, lots of tourists arriving on the island for a late summer break and plenty of things going on. However the first weekend of October this year did seem to have an unusual combination of events on the calendar.

First to look at was the hosting of the 2009 World Cheese Awards. If you dislike the smell of cheese this may have been your worst nightmare, if so you would have been wise to stay away, but for cheese lovers this was the equivalent of the Olympic Games. The best of the world's cheese all on display (and on taste) for the experts to decide which should win the prestigious prizes. For three days, the Alfredo Kraus Auditorium in Las Palmas saw 200 international experts ponder over 3000 candidate cheeses. The organisers claimed to have assembled more cheeses and more cheese people in one place than ever before.

For music fans a rock concert which featured the six piece metal band XXL took place on the 3rd of October. The band took to the stage at Sala Paraninfo in Las Palmas at 10pm, where the tickets costed 10 Euros. It was suggested you checked out their music and videos beforehand, as these boys are loud!

And some advanced notice of a huge event taking place on Gran Canaria next month. The final WOMAD event of the year takes place between 12th and 15th November in Las Palmas. After successful events around world already this year, including one in London during September and one in Bath during July, the WOMAD format comes to Gran Canaria. WOMAD or World of Music, Arts and Dance, festivals bring together artists from the disciplines of the arts, music and dance in a family orientated format. The first WOMAD festival took place in the UK in 1982 and over 160 events have followed.