THINGS TO DO IN CUBA (MOSTLY HAVANA) IN 2019
BASEBALL IN CUBA
January in Cuba offers the Cuban National Baseball Series playoffs and championship series. The playoff series between the top four teams at the end of the second phase of the regular season lasts approximately three weeks, from early January through the last week, when the 7-game championship series begins. So far this year it looks like last years second place team, Las Tunas, may be the team to beat. My prediction is a championship series between Las Tunas and Sancti Spiritus.
JAZZ IN HAVANA
January 15th, 2019 is the opening night of the 34th annual Havana Jazz Festival, officially known on in Cuba as the Havana International Jazzplaza and it ends on January 21st. It has been hosted the last few years by Cuban legend Chucho Valdes, and usually includes the participation of well-known Cuban jazz artists like Bobby Carcasses, Julito Padron, Juan Carlos Marin, Carlos Miyares, Cesar Lopez, and most members of the Lopez-Nussa family.
HAVANA CIGAR FESTIVAL
In February Havana hosts the 21st Havana Cigar Festival from the 18th to the 22nd. The Habanos festival includes tastings, seminars, and gala events held throughout the city. Tours of tobacco growing farms and warehousing facilities are usually part of the package tours for the event.
HAVANA ART BIENNIAL
Havana’s 13th Art Biennial will take place from April 12th through May 19th, 2019. The event brings together artists from across Cuba and this coming year guests from over forty other countries. The Havana Biennial includes large works that are on display throughout the city and in various Havana neighborhoods. This year events associated with the Biennial will take place in several Cuban provinces, and it’s a great time to see both the arts and the rest of Cuba. The 2017 Biennial included works right on the Havana malecon. Havana tends to fill up for the Biennial, so make your reservations early.
By Frank Gonzalez