Evening settled gently over the courtyard of Hotel El Colonial by Mystique, setting the tone for a concert that invited listening rather than spectacle. In that intimate atmosphere, Yicel Acosta delivered a performance that became less a tour of repertoire and more a personal statement.

Among the excerpts the Camagua Folkloric Company will perform this Saturday, April 11th, at the Avellaneda Theater is Chancleteando. Today, part of the group’s established repertoire, the piece also serves as a symbolic bridge to an unexpected image: a young Fernando Medrano dancing. For decades, Medrano has been publicly defined by his leadership—the director, the researcher, the guide—rather than the performer. And yet, a photograph shared during the recent theoretical session returns him to that origin: a teenager, still in secondary school, performing the very dance of the chancleta.

  Even amid rehearsals at its headquarters on Lugareño Street No. 128, Rumbatá’s director, Wilmer Ferrán, has a clear sense of direction: the group is navigating a period of artistic redefinition, international expansion, and renewed recording ambitions. At the heart of this new phase lies a defining goal—getting their upcoming album into the Grammys’ consideration process.

 The folkloric company Camagua will mark its 15th anniversary with a program that, while shaped by the constraints of Cuba’s current economic situation, offers a broad look at the different facets of its artistic work.

  Let’s begin by asking questions. About the families living with autism—or any other condition—beyond a single day, beyond a designated month. What do they truly need? What support do they actually have? How heavy does everyday life become when resources, specialists, and guidance are lacking?

At the Biblioteca Provincial Julio Antonio Mella, during Camagüey’s Culture Week, a panel marked the 95th anniversary of the birth of Jaime Sarusky. For me, speaking about someone I barely knew, yet who left a profound imprint, always stirs a mixture of gratitude and tremor.

Although the Havana International Book Fair has been postponed due to Cuba’s complex current situation, the Camagüey-based Editorial Ácana continues its work. That persistence was evident at the Camagüey Writers’ Meeting, where several authors previewed completed projects and others still in progress.

A few days ago, the extracurricular reading assignment arrived: The Little Prince. My daughter, who is 11, found herself facing a book I had already read to her before. Because it’s small and slim, it didn’t seem overwhelming or intimidating.

For the second consecutive year, Camagüey once again becomes a stage for laughter, wonder, and imagination with the Fiñe Fair, held from February 12 to 15. The event is dedicated to children and serves as a tribute to the anniversary of the Guiñol de Camagüey, one of the longest-running and most beloved theater companies in Cuba.

At times, it felt as if the entrance to the Julio Antonio Mella Provincial Library was no longer in Camagüey but at a crossroads of centuries: ancient Greece, nineteenth-century Cuba, Dickens’s Europe, Eva Perón’s Argentina, Gaitán’s Colombia. As Félix Julio Alfonso López spoke, time seemed to open like a fan.

The third edition of the National Handicrafts Fair (FENAR) will take place from January 31st to February 13th at the Camagüey Fairgrounds, bringing together 67 exhibitors from several Cuban provinces.

Despite current economic constraints, Camagüey has decided to go ahead with its Culture Week, scheduled for February 1st–7th, as an exercise in responsibility and identity. Formats and scope have been adjusted, but the city has not renounced the core purpose of bringing together memory, artistic creation, and cultural life on the occasion of the 512th anniversary of its founding.