Havana Carnival

While a poor cousin to the more traditional Santiago de Cuba version, Havana’s Carnival still provides a spectacular display of music, dancing, conga lines, colourful costumes, fireworks, beer, and rum. Parades run the length of the Malécon and rich traditional music competes with more contemporary sounds. Look out too for the Muñecones – huge masks worn by dancers, in the parades. They are accompanied by the faroleros – dancers who carry a multi-coloured accessory resembling a streetlight, which they rotate constantly. Cuba’s renowned carnivals were discontinued for a while during the “special period” in the 1990’s (when the collapse of the USSR ended the enormous subsidising of the Cuban economy, and which combined with the US trade embargo, created a severe economic crisis in Cuba). Now that the situation has improved (partly due to the government’s new emphasis on tourism), Carnival in Havana is back on the menu.