the 42 caribbean festivalwhich will take place from July 3 to 9 in Santiago de Cuba, will be dedicated to Mexican celebrations of life and death, according to its organizers.
Orlando Vergés, director of Casa del Caribe —institution that organizes the event—, announced that the call for this edition is already open and confirmed the dedication to the traditional festivities of Mexicoas a “deserved recognition” to them.
In them, Vergés explained, “the spirituality, magic, cultural diversity, history and material culture of all of Mexico come together”, which is why they were declared Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by Unesco in 2003.
“For the Casa del Caribe, and its Festival, it is a novelty to dedicate the event for the first time to the theme of the festivities in the region,” said the researcher, aforementioned by the newspaper Rebel Youth (JR).
According to the call for the so-called Fiesta del Fuego, the Mexican celebrations of the Day of the Dead, which traditionally take place on November 1 and 2, also “show the particular relationship of the peoples of the Caribbean and Latin America with death and with the festivities, lands in which the cultural resistance of our peoples is also expressed”.
The 42nd edition of the festival will be an “exceptional opportunity” to “make the whole of Mexico coincide in Santiago, the most Caribbean city in Cuba,” notes the information from JR.
Vergés announced that, as part of the event program, the second edition of the World Congress on death will be held, “an occasion in which scholars, researchers and promoters will address this issue with a multidisciplinary approach,” the report states.
The director of Casa del Caribe recalled that, in July 1993, the thirteenth edition of the Caribbean Festival was dedicated to the people of Mexico. On that occasion, the First World Congress on Death was held, in the context of the multicultural event.
Thirty years later, more than twenty stages in squares, parks and other public spaces in Santiago will host a varied artistic program. In addition, specialized workshops, religious ceremonies, plastic arts exhibitions, book presentations, literary meetings, audiovisual projections, galas and parades of the participating delegations will be held again.
