Carnival Museum: A Space for Santiago’s Traditions

The Carnival Museum is nestled in Santiago de Cuba’s central Heredia Street, and it treasures one of our most famous traditions: Santiago’s Carnival, with its masquerades, dances and other noisy expressions.

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Since 1981, this colonial house has been the head office of the carnival commission, which is in charge of organizing the joyful and popular fiestas.

The museum was conceived two years later, so as to show the evolution of this artistic expression by means of sequences of pictures with explicative texts, chronologies, objects and musical instruments.

The museum sheds light on the three most important stages of the carnival: Colony, Mediatized Republic and after the Revolution.

When visitors tour the museum’s halls, they can learn interesting details on the history of Santiago’s Carnival, whose origin is related to the religious procession carried out on July 25 and dedicated to Santiago Apostol. They can also see objects linked to this tradition, such as floats, trophies, wardrobes, standards, capes and ornaments.

The museum also features a hall dedicated to the most outstanding musical bands in such fiestas: cabildo carabali, French tumba and Santiago’s conga, with a backyard where folklore groups perform traditional dances.