The Rumba Route Reaches Central Cuba

The 'Pre-Festival' to the Timbalaye International Festival began this Saturday in Sagua la Grande, in order to include the city in Cuba's 'Rumba Route' tour.

The 11th edition of the Rumba Route Timbalaye International Festival will have as its main venues this year Havana and Matanzas provinces, and run August 23 through 31, but organizers decided to hold a pre-festival in this central Cuban city. Located 52 kilometers from Santa Clara, capital of the central province of Villa Clara, Sagua la Grande will host Saturday and Sunday theoretical and dance activities and will feature folkloric performances by local groups and the Awo Ache group from Santa Clara. The Casa Templo de Santa Barbara and the important Cabildo Kunalumbo San Francisco de Asis will also be visited in honor of the 210th anniversary of their foundation.

Ulises Mora, president of the Timbalaye project, said in Santa Clara Saturday that the 11th edition of the Timbalaye Festival aims to celebrate this year the 500th anniversary of the founding of Havana, the centenary of the birth of Benny More, and the group's 20th anniversary.

He said that Timbalaye, an international promoter of Cuban culture, decided to include Sagua la Grande in the Rumba Route because of the characteristics of its population, which has a great rumba tradition.

He also highlighted his interest in devising the Rumba Route as an intercultural dialogue, a route that already includes nine Cuban provinces.