Cuba to host international rumba festival

HAVANA, Cuba, Aug 14 (ACN) Organized by Timbalaye, international promoter of Cuban culture, the 16th International Festival “Route of the Rumba” will be held nationwide on August 18 to 31 to salute the 25th anniversary of this entity under the theme “Movimientos que identifican” (Identifying motions) and with focus on two areas of interest: the National Councils and Houses of Saints (Ilé Ocha), and the 30th anniversary of the UNESCO Routes of the Enslaved Peoples, intended to break the silence surrounding the history of slavery.

According to the organizers, in light of the cultural diversity stemmed from the slave trade in Latin America and the Caribbean, the Route will be aimed at emblematic places where the culture of enslaved peoples remains alive, especially in regards to rumba and the character that shaped Cuban culture and its links to African heritage.

Timbalaye, they hold, intends to raise awareness and promote the richness of cultural diversity through the social action that identify the living heritage based on motion: dance, music, and slavery as a forced migration movement, as these contribute to define a people’s culture and history.

The Festival seeks to highlight the relevance of African heritage present in rumba as much as in the national material and immaterial heritage and offer participants a space for cultural exchange with Cuban and foreign dance troupes and folk music bands.

Featured in the program is a colloquium about the National Councils, visits and meetings in specific neighborhoods and urban and rural communities, book presentations, master classes, a cultural expo fair, shows, tours, parades, lectures and other events in public squares, museums and theaters.

Likewise, the Festival will boost the local development project Viviendo en los Barrios (Living in the neighborhoods), conceived to promote strategies at community level to make people aware of the importance of the African legacy to the Cuban cultural identity.