• Submitted by: manso
• Arts and Culture
• 08 / 22 / 2011

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The 17th Fiesta de la Cubanía (Cuban Culture Fiesta) takes place in eastern Granma’s capital city of Bayamo in October this year. Celebration highlights include visits to places of cultural and historic interest, debates on Cintio Vitier’s literary work and a discussion panel on the origins and evolution of the Cuban newspaper El Cubano Libre, reported AIN.

The festival marking Cuban Culture Day has, by tradition, been celebrated in Bayamo, in memory of the glorious day where the Cuban national anthem was first sung, on October 20th, 1868, festival organizers told the press.

Activities also include a tribute to the local historical research center Casa de la Nacionalidad Cubana, created in 1991, aimed at studying the impact Granma’s had on Cuban history over time, organizers added.

High-ranking officials and specialists at the provincial Office for Cultural Affairs spoke about some initiatives taking place prior to the celebrations, namely performances by the travelling theatre company Guerrilla de Teatreros in different locations across the province.

The theatrical adventure kicks off in La Demajagua, the place in the municipality of Manzanillo where the Cuban independence wars began; and will round off in Bayamo, the first and only Cuban city that broke free from the Spanish yoke during the Ten Year War.

Taking place within the framework of celebrations is the 18th Literary Colloquium, dealing with topics such as the impact of poetry, Marti’s work, and essayist and critic Cintio Vitier’s (1921-2009) literary legacy.

Other activities on the festival’s agenda are a central event in the square of Bayamo where the national anthem was first sung, book and traditional craftwork fairs, cultural performances, concerts, as well as exhibitions of traditional Cuban clothes such as the guayabera.

Source: Cubarte