• Submitted by: manso
• Travel and Tourism
• 02 / 27 / 2011

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Habana, Feb 26 (Prensa Latina) The auction of six lots of premium Cuban cigars raised a total of 787,000 euros at the close of the 13th Habano Festival, attended by over 1,000 people from 70 countries.

As in previous years, the event was led by Briton Simon Chase and the total amount raised will be donated to the Cuban health system, as announced before the beginning of the auction.

The festivalÂ?s agenda also included international seminars, trade fairs, talks, tastings, visits to tobacco plantations and factories, and other meetings with cigar experts and lovers.

The event ended early Saturday early morning at the Pabexpo fairgrounds in Havana with a cultural gala and performances by Cuban singer Omara Portuondo, the Compay Segundo group, and other musicians, bands and dancers.

The awards for Best Habano Man of the Year went to Cuban Armando Trujillo Gonzalez in the Production category, German Maximiliam Herzog in the Business category, and Cuban Adriano Martinez in the Communication category.

Marvin Shankeen of the United States, one of the first winners of this award in 1995, noted the importance of this election, which goes back to 1991, when he made his first visit to Cuba.

In the auction, the most attractive item was a Cohiba humidor designed by the Humidif group and containing 400 habanos, bought by Spaniard Jose Maria Palacios for 450,000 euros.

The six lots also included an H.Upmann humidor made by Marlene Silvera and containing 350 habanos, which fetched 52,000 euros from Edward Tang, from the Pacific Cigar Co, and an Hoyo de Monterrey humidor created by the Jgarridoc Group, with 300 habanos, sold to Aliai Forte of Britain for 65,000 euros.

The closing dinner was dedicated to the presentation of the new product Gran Reserva de Montecristo.

The president of the National Assembly of People's Power, Ricardo Alarcon, participated in this event along with artists, executives, officials and experts.