Caribbean Festival Concludes in Santiago de Cuba

After seven days of cultural exchanges, artistic performances, and academic events focused on identity and integration, the 44th edition of the Caribbean Festival came to a close today in the southeastern Cuban city of Santiago de Cuba.

Prior to the closing parade at Céspedes Park, the provincial government presented the award "With Everyone’s Effort, We Will Overcome" to several cultural groups and their leaders who preserve ancestral traditions, recognizing their contributions to both local and national culture.

Special recognition was given to researcher Orlando Vergés, director of Casa del Caribe and a central figure in the festival’s organization. He received the “José Martí Mausoleum” Distinction from Beatriz Johnson, First Secretary of the Communist Party in the province, and Governor Manuel Falcón.

Vergés was honored for his work in preserving cultural identity through the promotion of traditional cultural groups, as well as for his dedication to the successful execution of numerous editions of the Caribbean Festival.

Dozens of groups representing Cuba and the wider Caribbean then paraded down Aguilera Street in the city’s heritage district, culminating at the La Alameda waterfront, where the symbolic burning of the devil marked the festival’s official closing.

The 45th edition of the Fiesta del Fuego, scheduled for 2026, will be dedicated to the Indigenous cultures and African diaspora of Colombia. Expectations are already high for an event as special as the one that concluded today.