Festivals in Havana

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Havana, Cuba, is a host city to numerous events and festivals.

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Festivals and events

Havana International Jazz Festival

Many festivals held in Cuba revolve around the arts such as music, dance, art, and even film making. One such festival is the annual Havana Jazz Festival, [1] founded by several Cuban jazz musicians, which includes Cuba's Bobby Carcasses Afro-Cuban jazz "Havana Jazz Festival." The first venue for this jazz concert was the Casa de La Cultura Plaza in downtown Havana, which is still home to many music and jam sessions that take place to this day. [2]

The International Havana Ballet Festival

The International Havana Ballet Festival (Festival Internacional de Ballet de La Habana) is an event dedicated to the art of dance. Created in 1960 by a joint effort of the Ballet Nacional de Cuba, the Instituto Nacional de la Industria Turística and the cultural organizations of the government, the International Ballet Festival of Havana was added to the plans of massive diffusion of arts started after the Cuban Revolution on 1 January 1959. This Festival, which currently is held in alternate years, is one of the oldest worldwide, and meets at different venues in the Cuban capital and in other cities. The event is non-competitive and its objective is the fraternal meeting of artists and other specialists. The International Ballet Festival of Havana attracts prestigious dancers from around the world, who perform along with artists from the country's own National Ballet of Cuba. [3] The first ever International Ballet Festival of Havana was held in 1960 and became a biannual event from 1974. [3] To this day, the event continues to be one of the most prominent ballet festivals in Cuba and attracts audiences from all over.

Havana's International Film Festival

The Havana's International Film Festival or (The International Festival of New Latin American Cinema) was founded on 3 December 1979 as a way to pay tribute to Spanish-language film makers. As a tradition, the festival takes place every December in the city. The event organizes several contests in categories such as fiction medium- and short-length films, first-timers, documentary, animation, scripts and posters, though the major attraction of the whole event is the Official Section Contest, in which some 21 feature films compete for the Coral Award. [4] The festival has been the starting place for many now mainstream films includings the critically acclaimed movie City of God , which was Brazil's official film submission for the festival in 2002. [4]

Habanos Cigar Festival

Every year Havana plays host to the Habanos Cuban Cigar Festival in the month of February. [5] The festival is usually held over five days, with activities including: tours of cigar factories, a trade fair, various seminars focused on the production, distribution and history of Havanos cigars, cigar tastings, Habanosommelier contest, an instruction class on how to roll a Habano, and visits to tobacco plantations. Attendees of this event include distributors, “La Casa del Habano” managers from all over the world, production and sales executives, producers and marketers of luxury and smoker products, tobacco producers, dealers of the tobacco industry, artisans and collectors, smoker clubs, and amateur smokers. [6]

Others

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Havana Capital of Cuba

Havana is the capital city, largest city, province, major port, and leading commercial center of Cuba. The city has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of 781.58 km2 (301.77 sq mi) – making it the largest city by area, the most populous city, and the fourth largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean region.

Cohiba (cigar brand)

Cohiba is a brand for two kinds of premium cigar, one produced in Cuba for Habanos S.A., the Cuban state-owned tobacco company, and the other produced in the Dominican Republic for US-based General Cigar Company. The name cohíba derives from the Taíno word for "tobacco".

Alicia Alonso Cuban ballerina

Alicia Alonso was a Cuban prima ballerina assoluta and choreographer whose company became the Ballet Nacional de Cuba in 1955. She is best known for her portrayals of Giselle and the ballet version of Carmen.

Montecristo (cigar)

Montecristo is a brands of premium cigars and cigarrettes, produced in Cuba by Habanos S.A., the local tobacco company, and in La Romana, Dominican Republic by Altadis, a subsidiary of British conglomerate Imperial Brands.

Bolívar (cigar brand)

Bolívar is the name of two brands of premium cigar, one produced on the island of Cuba for Habanos SA, the Cuban state-owned tobacco company, and the other produced in the Dominican Republic from Dominican and Nicaraguan tobacco for General Cigar Company, which is today a subsidiary of Scandinavian Tobacco Group. Both are named for the South American revolutionary, Simón Bolívar.

H. Upmann

H. Upmann is a Cuban brand of premium cigars established by banker Hermann Dietrich Upmann. The brand is currently owned by British corporation Imperial Brands. Cigars are manufactured by Habanos S.A. –the state-owned tobacco company– in Cuba, and Altadis in La Romana, Dominican Republic.

Partagás (cigar brand)

Partagás is the brand name of two lines of cigars made by two independent and competing entities, one produced on the island of Cuba for Habanos SA, the Cuban state-owned tobacco company; the other, containing no Cuban tobacco, produced in the Dominican Republic for General Cigar Company, a division of Scandinavian Tobacco Group of Denmark.

Habanos S.A. is a Cuban manufacturing company of tobacco that controls the promotion, distribution, and export of premium cigars and other tobacco products worldwide. It was established in 1994.

Quintero (cigar)

Quintero is a brand of premium cigars, owned by British conglomerate Imperial Brands. The brand is produced in Cuba by Habanos S.A., the local state-owned tobacco company, which also owns the brands Cohiba, Montecristo, and Romeo y Julieta.

Guantanamera (cigar)

Guantanamera is the name of an American cigar brand owned by Guantanamera Cigars Company of Miami, Florida, and a Cuban cigar brand produced in Cuba for Habanos SA, the Cuban state-owned tobacco company.

Por Larrañaga

Por Larrañaga is the name of a cigar brand produced in Cuba for Habanos S.A., the Cuban state-owned tobacco company, as well as a non-Cuban line of cigars produced in the Dominican Republic and Honduras for Altadis, a subsidiary of Imperial Brands. Por Larrañaga cigars have been in continuous production in Cuba since 1834, longer than any other Cuban cigar brand.

San Cristobal de la Habana (cigar)

San Cristobal de la Habana is the name of a Cuban cigar brand produced in Cuba for Habanos SA, the Cuban state-owned tobacco company.

Pepin Garcia

Don José "Pepin" Garcia is the CEO of El Rey de los Habanos, Inc, a cigar company in Miami, also known as My Father Cigars. He is a noted cigar maker living in Miami, Florida. Born in Cuba, he is a master cigar roller and blender, and the creator and maker of numerous popular cigar brands.

Gaia (arts venue)

Gaia is an arts centre in Havana, Cuba, set up on January 1, 2000 as a not-for-profit collaboration between Cuban and international artists.

International Ballet Festival of Havana

The International Ballet Festival of Havana(Festival de Ballet de La Habana), is a ballet festival held in the Great Theater of Havana, Cuba and other locations like Karl Marx Theatre and Mella Theatre every two years. Created in 1960 by a joint effort of the Ballet Nacional de Cuba, the Instituto Nacional de la Industria Turística and the cultural organizations of the government, the International Ballet Festival of Havana was added to the plans of massive diffusion of arts started after the popular Cuban Revolution on January 1, 1959.

Viengsay Valdés

Viengsay Valdés (1977) is a Cuban ballerina. Since 2003, Valdés is the Prima Ballerina Assoluta and since 2019 she is the Artistic Director of the National Ballet of Cuba.

General Cigar Company United States historic place

General Cigar Company is the largest manufacturers of premium cigars in the world. It is a subsidiary of Scandinavian Tobacco Group with North American headquarters located in Richmond, Virginia.

Sancho Panza is the name of a premium cigar brand in Cuba dating from 1848, and still produced there for Habanos S.A., the Cuban state-owned tobacco company.

Juan López is the name of a cigar brand produced on the island of Cuba for Habanos SA, the Cuban state-owned tobacco company.

References

  1. ↑ Havana Jazz Festival.
  2. ↑ "International Jazz Festival". What's On Cuba. Cuba Absolutely. Web. 17 February 2010.
  3. 1 2 "International Ballet Festival of Havana". World Events Guide. Ministry of Tourism. Web. 12 February 2010.
  4. 1 2 ELVIS, MITCHELL. "CRITIC'S NOTEBOOK; Films in Land That's Ready For Revolution Of the Mind." New York Times, 16 December 2002: 3. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 1 March 2010.
  5. ↑ Flannery, Russell. "Long Live the $25 Cigar." Forbes 174.13 (2004): 51. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 8 March 2010.
  6. ↑ Torres, Oscar Basulto. "XII Festival del Habano". Festival del Habano. Habano Cigar Company. Web. 2 March 2010.
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