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Habano Festival Begins in Cuba Today

Havana, Feb 26 (Prensa Latina) With an unusual opening at the San Carlos de la Cabaña colonial fortress in Havana, the 15th Festival del Habano opens today, an event that highlights Cuban culture and traditions.

Considered the world’s best hand-made premium cigar, the habano is feted each year through the holding of a week-long celebration.

More than 1,000 people from some 60 countries will attend the event, although in total around 5,000 people are connected in some way, such as through smoking clubs that are holding their meetings here in Havana during the celebration.

Spokesmen from the international corporation Habanos S.A. are extremely satisfied with this event, above all because of the quality of this product, emblematic of the island’s economy.

The week has a busy program that includes international seminars, tastings, lectures, visits to plantations and factories, as well as cultural presentations.

Among the new features are the Habanos-Rioja Alliance, where cigars of this country are matched with Spanish wines from the Rioja region.

The activities are imbued with the brilliance of handmade cigars crafted by experts, where family tradition plays an important role, not only among the growers in the area, but also the cigar makers at the factories.

The Habanos Festival began in 1994 with a dinner that featured cigars, and 1995 inaugurated the Habano Man of the Year award that later was called Habanos of the Year Award, finally becoming a full-fledged festival in 1999.