During the creation of the Organizing Committee, Orlando Vergés, director of the Caribbean House, stressed we are dealing with 35 uninterrupted editions, something that very few events in the country are able to achieve, which was so much reviewed by the founder-director of the institution and this cultural festival, the already deceased Joel James Figarola. This shows the big admiration of Caribbean peoples toward this event, which this time will be dedicated to The Bahamas Commonwealth and the half millennium of the foundation of this town, said Vergés.

Vergés highlighted the importance of dedicating this Fire Party—as the event is also known—to this Anglophone region, which brings together around 200 islands, located in an area of intense movement of people and goods, amid the Caribbean Sea. Furthermore, he announced the Bahamian delegation will have about 200 members, with a wide sample of its cultural diversity, as well as the carnival manifestations as a focus, which is unknown in Cuba.

The director of the Casa del Caribe institution also made reference to the creation, during those days, of the network of carnivals in the region, sponsored by the Association of Caribbean States, aimed at strengthening bonds and enriching knowledge on those expressions of the traditional popular culture.

Among the largest delegations which have confirmed their presence to the cultural event are Bahamas, Curacao, United States, Venezuela, Argentina, Spain, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Puerto Rico and Haiti, to which join cultural carrier groups of this Cuban eastern province, and those of Ciego de Avila, Camagüey, Matanzas and Cienfuegos.

Translation: Roxana Marquez Herrera (Cubarte)