Press Center for the 35th Caribbean Festival Opens

The press center of the 35th edition of the Caribbean Festival was officially inaugurated on Wednesday afternoon with a press conference by members of the Organizing Committee of the Festival of Fire, which this time around is dedicated to the Bahamas and the 500th anniversary of the foundation of the city of Santiago de Cuba.

Click on Santiago de Cuba: A City of 500 Years

In the presence of national and international media, the director of the Casa del Caribe, Orlando Vergés Martínez, said that more than forty countries will attend this celebration, which involves a record number of nations, ranging between 22 and 25.

The largest delegation will be that of the Bahamas, with over 300 participants and the presence of the First Lady, Bernadette Christie, at the helm of the official delegation of the Caribbean nation. He also added that the meeting will have three key thematic routes: the creation of the Network of Caribbean Carnival, the historical and cultural foundation to the first Cuba villages, and the exhibition of the Bahamian culture.

During the press conference Verges confirmed the participation of the "La Gallera" band, singer Maridalia Hernandez, founder of the 440 band, and Johnny Ventura, "El Caballo Mayor", all from the Dominican Republic, who will be in concert on July 4 and 5 in the Main Hall of the Heredia Theater.

"The Festival is a star-studded event and our stars are the bearers of Caribbean culture groups", said the head of the institution.

At another point, the details of the International Colloquium "The Caribbean that unites us" in the voice of its coordinator Dortha Kenya, who is also deputy director of the Casa del Caribe, were spelled out.

The launch of issues 62-63 of the Caribbean magazine, dedicated to the 500th anniversary of the Santiago town; the launch of "race, culture and identity in the Caribbean" by historian Olga Portuondo Zuniga, who will also be present in the "foundational Cuba villages" panel with historians of the first towns founded in Cuba, will be some of this year’s highlights.

Other events, such as the Meeting of Communicators "Caribe 2000", are programmed, as well as the Meeting of Caribbean & World Poets "Jesus Cos Causse"; the International Training Workshop of Popular Religiosity; a workshop on performing arts; a workshop on oral traditions and a music workshop, among others.