Its director, Armando Crisanto, who is also an anthropologist, researcher and cultural promoter, remarked that the coup d'état against then President Manuel Zelaya prevented the dance troupe from coming to Cuba when the Festival was dedicated to these ancient communities 15 years ago—and him from receiving the International Casa del Caribe Award that he won back then—and that it was a great joy to introduce to the Festival and to the Cuban people the art that the group has offered and been praised for around the world since 1962.

“Folklore, tradition and blackness are part of the repertoire we brought to the Festival this year in order to narrate, through dance, traditional songs and percussion, the untold story of the Garifuna community,” he pointed out. “We intend to return in 2025 with the whole troupe to rejoice in the Festival and perform in Cuban theaters.”

Honored in the 29th Fire Festival, the Honduran Garifunas, who descend from indigenous Arawak, Kalinago and Afro-Caribbean people, live by a system of beliefs and agricultural and food practices based on spirituality.