British Culture Week in Havana

From a muddy football field where an invitational UK team took the veteran Cubans to task 6-1 to a party so secret that the British Ambassador was not let in, British week had the Habaneros wearing the Union Jack. The locals were not even put off by a week of oh so very British rain and enjoyed a brilliant adaptation of Joe Penhall’s Blue Orange, the showing of Searching for Sugar Man, a curiously funky bus tour around the capital, discussions, presentations and too many concerts and parties to tell of.


  • January 1, 1959: Triumph of the Cuban Revolution

    January 1, 1959: Triumph of the Cuban Revolution  LH 5

    New Year’s Day has a special meaning in Cuba since it was on this first day of 1959, Cuba was shaken by a much-awaited news—Fulgencio Batista, who had seized power through a military coup on March 10, …

    Cine Pobre: Cuba’s hippest & retro film festival is back

    Cine Pobre: Cuba’s hippest & retro film festival is back  LH 5

    After a two-year break, Cuba’s ‘poor man’s’ film festival is back. Founded by Cuban filmmaker Humberto Solas, the festival is traditionally held in the sleepy fishing village of Gibrara that wakes up …

    July 26, 1953: Attack on Moncada Barracks

    July 26, 1953: Attack on Moncada Barracks  LH 5

    On July 26, 1953 a group of young men and two women led by Fidel Castro attacked the Moncada Barracks in Santiago de Cuba while another group attacked the Carlos Manuel de Céspedes Barracks in the cit …

    Cubadanza

    Cubadanza  LH 4

    The two-week long International Workshop on Cuban Modern Dance, Cubadanza, aims at professional dancers and students, teaches different Cuban popular rhythms and dances from which Cuban modern dance d …

    2012 Havana Dog Show: Mad dogs & Englishmen

    2012 Havana Dog Show: Mad dogs & Englishmen  LH 4

    Even an Englishman out for a stroll in the mid-day Caribbean sunshine might be tempted to loosen his tie, perhaps even lose the jacket, and as the humidity rises to 100% and the temperature dial goes …

    The Havana Carnival: 1573 to 2014

    The Havana Carnival: 1573 to 2014  LH 4

    Today, the Havana carnival provokes mixed feelings from Habaneros. On one hand, the complaints that locals voice are numerous: too much reggaeton, too much drinking and, of course, too high a possibil …

    Pampered pooches at the Havana Dog Show

    Pampered pooches at the Havana Dog Show  LH 4

    Collectively, the Cuban people are crazy about dogs—literally, certifiably crazy. A clinical diagnosis might be mass bipolar disorder, with some Cubans abjectly irrationally terrified of the fluffiest …

    Festival Romerías de Mayo: Memoria Nuestra (Our Memories)

    Festival Romerías de Mayo: Memoria Nuestra (Our Memories)  LH 4

    On May 3, 1790, the Franciscan friar Antonio de Alegría placed a cross on the hill that marks the geographic north of the city of Holguín. The people of Holguín would make pilgrimages each year to the …

    Premio Casa de las Américas 2014

    Premio Casa de las Américas 2014  LH 4

    Initiated in Havana in 1960 to draw attention to the most significant literary production in Latin America—and at a later date, the Caribbean, too—in the genres of poetry, novel, short story, essay, t …

    Caldosa & rum for the fiesta del barrio

    Caldosa & rum for the fiesta del barrio  LH 4

    “Yanisleidys! Do you have any cumin?” “Are you ever going to learn to buy cassava?” “Caballero, if you drink all the rum now, all you’ll have for the party will be water!” From street to street, neigh …

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