Cuba - Entertainment

The name of the bar became world-famous through the evergreen song of the same title. Its cultivated-melancholic... atmosphere invites to indulge in the best bolero in entire Havana. more

Besides the nearby “Casa de la Trova”, the “Casa de la Música” certainly offers the best opportunity... in Santiago de Cuba to experience real Cuban son performed live. Late at night, the rhythms of salsa and rumba invite to join the dance floor. more

In order to experience the typical atmosphere of the world-famous Tropicana Cabaret it is not necessary... to go to Havana or Matanzas. The Cabaret Continental in the Hotel Internacional offers fascinating performances with flamboyant costumes and erotic dances as well. more

The guests of the night café designed in the style of the 1950s like to drink cocktails and, at the... weekend, dance to the rhythm of Cuban salsa bands. more

Although Alicia Alonso’s dancers are on tour frequently, with a little luck you might have the privilege... of experiencing the world-famous ballet ensemble in Havana. On top of it, the spectacular dancing performances in the Gran Teatro are even affordable. more

Baseball fans should definitely watch a match in this stadium in Havana. It is located to the southeast... of the Plaza de la Revolución. The atmosphere is at its peak when the city’s eternal rivals from Santiago de Cuba visit and play against the local teams Industriales and Metropolitanos. The stadium has a capacity of 55,000 spectators. Entrance costs one peso (around four pence). Matches usually start at 8 pm. more

This troupe, formed in 1962, is famous around the world for its performances of traditional Afrocuban... dance productions. Their main focus is to embody the deities of the Yoruba people. Their performances can be watched in the Teatro Mella (Linea 657, e/A y B, Vedado) and every Saturday afternoon at 2.30 pm in the courtyard of El Gran Palenque, which is the home of the troupe. more

The cultural center of the Asociación Yoruba de Cuba doesn’t just provide information about the Santería... religion and its 401 orisha deities; on Fridays at 9 pm, it becomes a stage upon which a fascinating performance is given by six ladies, who are the only masters in the world of all Afrocuban percussion styles. Their rumbas and descargas are phenomenal. more

A great open-air rumba performance takes place in the Callejón de Hamel alley on Saturdays between 12... pm and 3 pm. These sessions were first organized by artist and santero Salvador Escalon Gonzalez. more

Although visitors can certainly shop and eat in Cuba’s most expensive fashion store, most guests come... to watch the garden parade consisting of the most beautiful models on the island. The show usually starts at 10 pm. Afterwards, guests are invited to have a dance, though not with the models! more

The tradition of Carnival goes back to the 18th century. On the name day of Saint James, the slaves were... allowed to celebrate the end of the sugar cane harvest, and their dances and masquerades soon overlapped with the religious festivities of the Saint James procession. As in Rio de Janeiro, there are various carnival schools in Santiago de Cuba: the so-called ‘Carabalis’. The event starts with a procession of the ‘Estrellas’, the most beautiful girls in Santiago de Cuba, on parade floats decorated with flowers. The people then follow the masked Comparsas and dance to the electrifying rhythm of the maracas and conga drums. This takes place in the streets for five days around 25 July. more

Remedios is famous for its carnival-like processions, the so-called ‘parrandas’. This tradition began... on Christmas Eve, 1820, when several of the city’s inhabitants woke their neighbors with a cacophonous trumpet blast, so that they would remember Christmas mass. These neighbors then gave this group a taste of their own medicine the following year. Each year since this time, two clans, El Carmen and San Salvador, ‘feud’ with each other using costume parades, floats, lanterns, fireworks and musical instruments. Since the revolution, the festival has taken place on the Saturday prior to 26 December; this is the day on which the city was freed by Che Guevara’s troops. The history of this carnival can be traced in its entirety in the Museo de las Parrandas Remedianas. more