 Cuba Festivals |
January / Havana, Casa de las Americas
Casa de las Americas
Initiated in Havana in 1960 to draw attention to the most
significant literary production in Latin America—and at a later date, the
Caribbean, too—in the genres of poetry, novel, short story, essay, theatre and
testimony, as well as works in other languages spoken in the region, the Casa de
las Americas Literary Award has gathered outstanding figures of contemporary
writing, including Miguel Ángel Asturias, Mario Vargas Llosa, Julio Cortazar,
Alejo Carpentier, Allen Ginsberg, Nicolas Guillen, Nicanor Parra, Jaime Sabines,
Alfredo Bryce Echenique, Guillermo Cabrera Infante, Eduardo Galeano, Paco
Ignacio Taibo II, Jose Lezama Lima, Italo Calvino, Camilo Jose Cela, Jose
Saramago, to name a few. Throughout the years, many of the prize-winning works
have become classics of the continent’s literature; hence, the great
expectations that each year’s announcement creates among the public, who also
have the opportunity to attend collateral activities programmed during the
event.
January - February / Old Havana
Esteban Salas Early
Music Festival
This is an annual festival
of the music of Cuban composer Esteban Salas, which has been celebrated since
2003—the 200th anniversary of his death. Every year the event gathers
outstanding performers of Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque music who perform in
Old Havana headed by Ars Longa, the City Historian’s Office early music
ensemble.
February – March
Havana´s San Carlos de la Cabana
Fortress and some 40 other cities throughout Cuba.
International Book Fair
What began as a modest book fair founded by the famous Cuban
writer, journalist and musicologist, Alejo Carpentier, eventually became the
most important literary event on the island. Every year tens of thousands of
people pack the San Carlos de la Cabana Fortress in Havana, attracted by book
launchings of all genres and topics from Cuban and foreign publishing houses,
along with panel discussions, poetry readings, concerts, children’s events, and
a crafts fair. After Havana, the fair travels to another 40 Cuban cities.
March / Casa de la Trova and Sala de Conciertos
Dolores in Santiago de Cuba
International Pepe
Sanchez Trova Festival
The festival began in
1962 in homage to local Santiago de Cuba composer Jose (Pepe) Sanchez
(1856-1918), considered the father of Cuban trova (the troubador genre
of voice, song and poetry that is usually accompanied by a guitar). Several
generations of musicians from different musical trends within trova
participate in this event, including exponents of more traditional
trova, of filin (an evolution of bolero and
trova), and of nueva trova (the very Cuban genre of personal
commentary influenced by British, US and Brazilian popular music). Santiago de
Cuba—the cradle of trova—hosts this festival which takes the city’s
streets and parks by storm in a celebration where musicians and singers from
abroad join their Cuban counterparts. The closing of the festival on Troubador
Day, March 19th, commemorates the anniversary of the birth of Pepe
Sanchez.
March / Old Havana
International Urban Dance Festival: “Old Havana, City in
Motion”
This unique International Urban Dance
Festival was first held in 1996 in two or three small museums located in
Havana’s Historical Centre, eventually bringing into play most of the
institutions, plazas and streets of Old Havana. Aiming to link dance
choreography with the visual and expressive nature of the old city, as well as
seeking to interact with passers-by, the event, organized by the Retazos Dance
Company directed by dancer and choreographer Isabel Bustos, is attended by
hundreds of foreign and Cuban guests.
April / Gibara, Province of Holguín
International Low-Budget Film Festival
Since 2003, this event has been held in the small town of
Gibara close to the eastern city of Holguín. Besides the competition itself,
which awards prizes for fiction and documentary films, there are also meetings,
concerts, recitals and art exhibitions. The festival guarantees a broad range of
approach and topics, aspiring to become an alternative to commercial
filmmaking—promoting artistic quality with production costs kept to a minimum.
June / Gran Teatro de La Habana and other locales in Havana
Spanish Imprint Festival
Founded in 1989 by Cuba’s prima ballerina,
Alicia Alonso, this festival (literally, “Spanish Imprint Festival”), while
acknowledging both traditional and contemporary Spanish cultural influence on
the island, is nonetheless very Cuban. Cuban and Spanish soloists, theatre
companies, dance ensembles and music groups perform at the Gran Teatro de La
Habana as well as in the Plaza de Armas and the Castillo de la Real
Fuerza—itself an enduring testimony of previous Hispanic presence in the city.
May / Different areas of Havana
Cubadisco International Fair
Nothing to do with discotheques, this fair
was begun in 1997 as a way to bring to national and international attention what
the Cuban recording industry has been up to with concerts, recitals, symposia
and exhibits. The 2007 edition, which was dedicated to Venezuela, included
tributes to Cuban film music by Leo Brouwer, Edesio Alejandro, the brothers Jose
María and Sergio Vitier, and the former Grupo de Experimentacion Sonora from the
Cuban Film Institute (ICAIC). The 2007 festival Grand Prix was awarded to albums
Akapellando, by the a capella vocal ensemble, Sampling, and to Cinco conciertos
para piano y orquesta de Heitor Villa-Lobos (Five Concerts for Piano and
Orchestra by Heitor Villa-Lobos), performed by various Cuban pianists.
May / Casa de las Americas,
Havana and provinces
Theater in May
The Latin American Theatre Festival, sponsored by
Casa de las Americas in the 1960s, and which in 1964 went international, was
discontinued until 1998 when the Drama Department of the Casa de las Americas
organized the Theatre in May festival in its place. This is now a biannual
affair. The festival features the performances of the most important Cuban
theatre companies as well as renowned Latin American groups plus workshops and
lectures by experts from Cuba and abroad.
June / Centro Cultural Pablo de la Torriente Brau, Old
Havana
International Digital Art Salon
This International Digital Art exhibition was held
for the first time in 1999 with the aim of offering “a space to exhibit and
reflect upon” a new form of artistic creation which explores the potential that
new technologies offer in creating art. It began with the participation of some
thirty Cuban artists, eventually becoming a rendezvous of digital artists,
designers and photographers from dozens of countries, different ages and varied
aesthetic views.
July / Santiago de Cuba
Santiago de Cuba Carnival
Carnival festivities in Santiago de Cuba go back to the late 17th
century with the annual procession on the feast of Santiago Apostol, the patron
saint of the town. During colonial times, slaves were granted permission by the
Spanish authorities to celebrate the Epiphany with their own music and dance. By
the end of the 19th century, these festivities were also held in June and July
in celebration of various patron saints days. At the beginning of the 20th
century, comparsas (neighbourhood dance groups) and processions of decorated
floats began to parade down the streets—a tradition that is still observed.
Although many Cuban towns hold their own carnival festivities, none attracts a
greater crowd than the Santiago carnival: the whole city seems to move to the
rhythm of conga lines, the sound of the Chinese trumpet and dozens of percussion
instruments, both traditional—bass drums, congas—and unconventional—pots and
pans, and spoons—which lead dancing crowds down the steep roads of the
city.
September / Varadero
Varadero Jam Session
Started in 2007 and presided by Chucho Valdes, who is considered
one of the best pianists in the world and a major figure of world jazz, the
Varadero Jam Session is a spectacular festival of improvisation, with important
Cuban and foreign jazz musicians jamming away for the enjoyment of jazz lovers.
27-30 November / Teatro Amadeo Roldan, Havana
Jo Jazz
Jo
Jazz—Joven Jazz or Young Jazz—takes place prior to the Havana International Jazz
Festival as a competition for young musicians. Proposed by five-time Grammy
winner Chucho Valdes in 1998, this competition for young jazz singers and
composers from 16 to 30 years of age has had contestants who today rank among
the most outstanding in the musical panorama of the Island. A special bonus for
the winners is the chance to cut an album with Chucho.
24 October – 6 November
Gran Teatro de La Habana
and other theatres in Havana and in various provinces.
International Havana Ballet Festival
Presided over since 1960 by the legendary Alicia Alonso, this
festival brings together international soloists and companies alongside the
Cuban National Ballet in Havana and other venues across the island. With more
than 200 world premieres to its name, thousands of guests always show up for the
Havana Ballet Festival.
December 24 to 26 and January 1st / Bejucal, Province of
La Habana
Charangas de Bejucal
Like many other festivals of this type in Cuba, the
charangas (popular son-influenced Cuban music that began in
the 1940s emphasizing flute, violin and piano orchestra) are related to
Christmas celebrations, when white Catholics and black slaves would take to the
streets with their musical instruments to pay tribute to their deities.
Eventually, they divided into two groups, which represented the
criollos (freed blacks and slaves), and the Spaniards. Thanks to the
fusion of cultures that characterizes Cuban identity, racial and class
differences were lost with time, and belonging to one or another side was simply
determined by each person’s preference. Rivalry between both sides today
consists in the ability to construct the most colourful and striking floats. The
traditional music of the orchestra Los Tambores de Bejucal accompanies this
festivity now attended not only by the inhabitants of the town, 20 km south of
Havana, but by hundreds of visitors who enjoy the fantasy and creativity of
designers, engineers, painters, musicians, choreographers, and dancers whose
talent guarantees the vitality of one of the oldest popular celebrations in
Cuba.
May - June / Havana
International Cubanima Festival
Organized by the Animation Studios of the Cuban Institute of
Cinematic Art and Industry (ICAIC), this festival is dedicated to animated films
for children and adolescents. The event includes a competition of short- and
feature-length films produced for the cinema or television from 2006 to date,
plus a program of workshops, theoretical meetings and exhibitions related to the
making of films for young audiences.
July / Santiago de Cuba
“Fire Fiesta” Caribbean Festival
Initiated in 1980, this annual popular festivity of Caribbean
cultures aims at harmonizing the identities of the peoples of the region beyond
geographic and linguistic diversity. Considered Cuba’s most Caribbean city,
Santiago de Cuba is the natural venue for this colourful and joyful
celebration—dedicated to fire and its genesis symbolism—which combines dances,
rhythms and rituals of strong African centuries-old presence syncretized into
the national identity. The “El Caribe que nos une” (The Caribbean which Unites
Us All) international colloquium focuses on issues related to the preservation,
development and dissemination of Caribbean cultural diversity, as well as
actions which could contribute to the unity of the region and promote a cultural
exchange with the rest of America and the world.
October / Casa de la Trova
and teatro Heredia, Santiago de Cuba
International Matamoros Son Festival
This festival, which is a tribute to one of the big names of Cuban
music, the Santiago de Cuba-native Miguel Matamoros, author of the well-known
song Mama, son de la loma, is a meeting of soloists and bands from all over the
island, as well as other countries. Concerts, lectures, dances, workshops, book
and CD launches, as well as a Cuban popular dance competition that will include
danzon, son, cha-cha-cha, mambo, casino and salsa, will liven up the city,
famous for its hospitality.
December / Pabexpo,
Havana
International Craft Fair
Held as a way of expressing the identity and
cultural diversity of different countries, this fair has promoted arts and
crafts attracting thousands of visitors each year. Lectures, exhibits, fashion
shows, sales and the crafts themselves offer an opportunity for interaction and
exchange between artists and the public. In its 11 previous editions, the
original treatment of contemporary design in handicrafts has been remarkable, in
pieces which, without losing their ancestral nature, exhibit an undisputable
touch of modernity, whether applied to textiles, fibres, leather, precious and
semiprecious stones, metals, clay, or any other material ready to be fashioned
and beautified through the sensitivity of craft artists.
March / Havana
First Caribbean Contemporary Dance Biennial A space for dancers, choreographers, teachers and students from
the Caribbean for promoting dance in the region, whose historical, ethnic and
language diversity generates an extraordinary cultural wealth. The Biennial is
an excellent opportunity for enjoying the performances of important dancers and
dance companies from the countries of the region.
March / Gran Teatro de La
Habana
International Meeting of Ballet
Academies
Organized for the first time in
1993, this meeting of ballet academies has made it possible for dancers,
teachers and students to become familiar with the technical and stylistic
peculiarities of the Cuban School of Ballet through workshops, courses, and
methodological/master lessons, while dancers and pedagogues from other countries
have contributed their own experiences. In addition, since 1995, an
international competition for students is held in different categories (13-14,
15-16 and 17-18 years old) and four prizes are awarded: revelation, best
partners, best individual performance and the Grand Prix.
May / Holguín
city
Romerías de Mayo
Continuing a
tradition that dates back to colonial times, in 1993 a group of young artists
decided to organize this popular festivity with the arrival of Spring. This
festival, which was held for the first time at the foot of the cross which
Father Antonio Alegría placed on 3 May, 1790 at the top of a hill, 275 metres
above sea level, is presided over by the Hacha Taína (the Taino Axe) and the
Cruz de Madera (the Wooden Cross), symbols of the mixture of elements that
constitute the Cuban culture. Following this spirit, every year musicians,
actors, researchers, artists, writers and dancers come together to share their
artistic endeavour during intense days and nights in which the diversity of
their propositions is exhibited, and Cuban and foreign artists join the locals
to enjoy a marathon-like programme in various parts of the city.
March / Old Havana
International Electroacoustic Music Festival
Organized by composer Juan Blanco, a pioneer of
electroacoustic music in Cuba, the Varadero Spring Festival—as it was first
called—gathered important figures which included Jon Appelton, Max Matthew, Leo
Kupper, Ahmed Malek, Nicola Sani, Lejaren Hiller, Manuel Enríquez, Ricardo Dal
Farra and Andrew Schloss. In 1998, the event moved its venue to Havana’s
Historical Centre. Concerts and lectures by composers from Spain, Brazil, US,
Canada, Turkey, Lithuania, England, Mexico, France, and Cuba will be the focus
of this year’s edition.
April
Teatro Amadeo
Roldan and the Basílica Menor del Convento de San Francisco de Asís
Corhabana
Founded in
1999 under the name Havana Choral Meeting, for there consecutive years it was a
meeting of Cuban and American choruses. En 2002, it became Corhabana and widened
its scope to include choruses from other countries. The event is presided by one
of the leading choral directors in Cuba, Digna Guerra, who today heads the
National Chorus.
May / Teatro Amadeo
Roldan
Havana International Guitar
Festival
Founded in 1982 by internationally
famous guitarist, composer and conductor Leo Brouwer as the Havana Guitar
Competition and Festival, it has welcomed guitarists distinguished guitarists,
including Ichiro Suzuki from Japan, Costas Cotsiolis from Greece, Paco de Lucía
from Spain, María Luisa Anido from Argentina, Francis Bebey from Cameroon, David
Russell and John Williams from the UK, and Alirio Díaz from Venezuela, among
others. After an hiatus of several years, the organizers have announced the
renewal of the Festival to take place in May.
July / movie theatres in Havana
and Santiago de Cuba
Traveling Series of Films
from the Caribbean
Initiated with great
success in February 2007 in Havana with the aim of acquainting audiences with
the cinematic production of the region, the series of films were exhibited in
Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Bahamas, Saint Lucia, Belize, Aruba,
Antigua and Barbuda, Curaçao, Surinam, Guyana, Martinique, Guadalupe, Haiti,
Cuba, Dominican Republican and Puerto Rico. This year, the event, which is
organized by UNICEF and UNESCO, will be dedicated to feature-length films,
documentaries and animated films for children and adolescents, and will include
countries from the Caribbean continent, such as Colombia, Venezuela and
Panama.
March / Cuba and Rialto , Santiago de Cuba
International Documentary Festival Santiago
Álvarez In Memoriam
Created in 2000, this
festival aims at highlighting the prominent role of the documentary, a film
genre that has been somewhat consigned to oblivion by the promotional mechanisms
of the larger movie festivals, yet with a tradition of significant quality and
acknowledgement in Cuba, among other factors, thanks to the work of the late
prize-winning Cuban film-maker, Santiago Alvarez. Although the festival began as
a national event dedicated to the memory of the most relevant Cuban documentary
maker of all time, throughout the years it has attracted the attention of a
number of filmmakers from Latin America, Europe and the United States. With
films in competition, parallel screenings and theoretical discussions, the
Festival constitutes a space for exchanging opinions and experiences among
filmmakers and lovers of this genre.
August / Havana and its Alamar
suburb
Havana International Rap Festival
Hip hop became a sensation in Cuba during the 1990s
when this festival was born. Since then, the event has attracted an increasing
number of hip hop artists from other countries, as well as featuring many
important local groups. There are more than 1,000 rap groups in Cuba today. More
recently, the festival has also included rap dancing, graffiti artists, a series
of films, and a colloquium with discussion of hip hop culture and issues
regarding this type of music, which has delved into controversial aspects of
Cuban life, such as racism and emerging economic inequalities.
November / Havana
First Theatre Biennial of the Caribbean
The event focuses on small shows of any of the
different types of theatre performances, which reflect identifying elements of
the culture of the Caribbean, both the traditional manifestations and the most
contemporary, created in the countries of the region or elsewhere. Collateral
activities include book launchings and film showings.
December / Havana movie
theatres and other venues in several other provinces
New Latin American International Film Festival
Since 3 December 1979, Havana has been the venue for
the immensely popular New Latin American International Film Festival. Millions
of film buffs across Cuba attend the event which has served as a launch pad for
Latin American cinematography and become one of the leading film festivals of
the region. The variety and creativity of films shown at the Havana Film
Festival every year has attracted celebrities such as Steven Spielberg, Pedro
Almodovar, Francis Ford Coppola, Carlos Saura, Oliver Stone, Robert Redford,
Jack Nicholson, Robert de Niro, Jack Lemmon, Gregory Peck, and Danny Glover,
among many others.
December / Remedios, Province of
Villa Clara
Parrandas de Remedios
Legend has it that during the 1820s, a young priest
officiating in Remedios—the eighth town founded by the Spaniards in Cuba—decided
to have a group of children make noise with whatever they had to hand in an
effort to awaken lazy parishioners to attend mass in the chilly mornings of 24th
December. From then on, neighbours would go out into the streets on the nights
prior to Christmas for music and merrymaking. From 1871, a competition or
“parranda” between two neighbourhoods—El Carmen and San Salvador—took place,
each with its own hymn, colours, kites and lanterns. In 1875, complicated floats
lit by flares and fireworks were paraded by each side at the town’s Plaza de
Armas (town square). To this day, the two neighbourhoods continue with a rivalry
characterized by the beauty and originality of these floats, as well as by the
amazing pyrotechnics that from 9 pm on 24th December to dawn on 25th December
illuminate the city sky. Both sides keep their floats secret from each other
during the course of the year with even members of the same family on either
side of the fence sworn to secrecy against each other. Although these
festivities have spread to other nearby localities of Guayos and Camajuaní, the
Parrandas de Remedios are the oldest and most well known on the island.
February / Teatro Amadeo
Roldan and other locations in Havana
International Jazz Festival
One of Havana’s most famous music events, the Jazz Festival is a
display of the link between Cuban rhythm and jazz, which goes back to the late
19th century when newly freed slaves emigrated to New Orleans. Started in 1979
pretty much as a local event at the Casa de la Cultura de Plaza, the festival
has grown in size and scope with venues that include several large theatres and
nightclubs. International stars such as Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Haden, Steve
Coleman, Michel Legrand, Ivan Lins and Ronnie Scott are just a few names in the
list of past participants, who, together with Cubans Chucho Valdes, Gonzalo
Rubalcaba, Bobby Carcasses and Ernan Lopez-Nussa, to mention just a few, attract
fans from all over the world.
