After three days of festivities, Italia Avenue hosts today a special tribute to the departure of a Cuban medical brigade that traveled to Turin on April 12th, 2020. The brigade mission focused on the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

38 Cuban collaborators —physicians, nurses, and one journalist— made up that representation of the Henry Reeve Medical Brigade that remained 100-plus days saving lives in Piamonte, Italy, leaving traces of love and solidarity, which will not be forgotten.

One of those patients who received medical treatment at the OGR Hospital in Turin is pianist Giovanni Casella, who now gives back the warmth and love with a special performance tonight in Italia Avenue, popularly known as Galiano street, together with Cuban singer Ileana Jimenez.

Jimenez has been living for over 20 years in Turin, and when Cuban doctors arrived in there, she joined the group of volunteers who worked at the OGR to make the stay of the Brigade more comfortable.

The festivity, also paying homage to the 150th anniversary of the Italia Avenue, closes with a big concert of Waldo Mendoza and his band.

For three days, the crowded Havana street has been the center of a great festival that was dedicated to Rome on Sunday, with the live performance of the winners of the San Remo Music Awards Festival and Moncada Group; Naples was the center of the festivity on Monday with a live concert of Neapolitan music and the performance of Haila María Mompié; and this Tuesday culminates with the tribute to both Turin and the Cuban doctors.

The festival, which in addition to the concerts, has showcased typical food from various regions of Italy, classic films from that country and other attractions of Italian culture, was organized by the Agency for Cultural and Economic Exchange with Cuba (AICEC) chaired by the friend in solidarity with Cuba, Michele Curto, and on the Cuban side, EGREM and the Government of Havana served as co-organizers.

Translated by Sergio A. Paneque Díaz / CubaSí Translation Staff