Page 41 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Cuba

CUBA THROUGH THE Y EAR  39

Average Daily Hours of Sunshine
Sunshine
Hours This chart shows the
10 average daily hours of
sunshine in Cuba. In the
8
winter the days are short:
6 at 6pm the sun has already
set. In the summer the sun
4 is strong and you should
protect your skin and wear
2 a hat and sunglasses, even
if only taking a short stroll
0
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec in town.
Encuentro de Bandas de
Summer Concierto, Plaza de la
There are various festivals and Revolución, Bayamo (1–15 Jun).
festivities during the summer Outdoor concerts by national
months, especially in Havana and international bands;
and Santiago. Regular open-air lectures, workshops.
concerts are held along the Fiesta del Gallo, Morón (end of
Malecón in Havana, particularly Jun). A parade including walking
in the square known as the gigantes through the town based
Piragua, which is transformed on the theme of the cockerel,
into an open-air dance floor which is symbolic here.
(free of charge). If you plan to Jornada Cucalambeana,
include the Carnival in your visit, Encuentro Festival
book accommodation well in Iberoamericano de la Décima, A group of dancers from a Havana comparsa
advance in Santiago. Las Tunas (end of Jun). The most ready for Carnival
important festival of Cuban
June rural culture. Includes concerts Santiago Carnival, Santiago de
Ernest Hemingway Inter­ and performances by poets, Cuba (week leading up to 26 Jul).
national Billfishing Tournament, musicians and repentistas Parades along the city streets
Marina Hemingway, Havana (improvisers). Lectures and and live music performed by
(early Jun). Fishermen compete literary meetings, exhibits of comparsas. For the most
for trophies in this annual local handicrafts and theatre important parades there is a
tag-and-release event. also feature. grandstand for spectators.
Festival Boleros de Oro, Afternoons are filled with children’s
Santiago, Morón, Havana July parades; adult floats start parading
(mid-Jun). String of concerts Fiesta del Fuego, Santiago de at 10pm. During the day, food
by the best Cuban and inter- Cuba (first half of Jul). Annual and drink stalls are set up in
national performers of bolero festival celebrating the music, various repartos of the city such
songs plus various lectures. poetry, figurative art, religions as Sueño and along La Trocha,
See www.uneac.org.cu. and history of the Caribbean where “peso beer” is doled out
nations. Meetings, shows, to the crowds from giant vats.
exhibits, concerts, poetry “26 de julio” (held every year in
readings and festivities through- a different city). The official com-
out the city, culminating on the memoration of the attack on
last night with the Quema del the Moncada barracks (see p234),
Diablo – the burning of an with a speech by President Raúl
effigy of the Devil. Castro and other political leaders
Havana Carnival (Jul–Aug). in the main square of a Cuban
A parade of floats in the city city, accompanied by concerts
streets, going from the Hotel and by children who recite poetry.
Nacional to Calle Belascoaín,
and live music performances August
by comparsas (processional Havana International Rap
groups who prepare all year Festival, Havana (Aug). The
long) in various parts of the cultural home of rap in Havana,
city. At weekends, free Alamar, hosts performances and
concerts are held at the Piragua. workshops of Cuban hip-hop
Walking on stilts in Morón during the The parades can be viewed and rap, as well as screenings of
Fiesta del Gallo from a grandstand. realted movies.

038-039_EW_Cuba.indd 39 14/02/17 11:35 am