CUBAN CULTURAL AND EVENTS AGENDA IN SEPTEMBER

Traveling and descovering the authentic Cuba in September is always a good idea. Bring a bathing suit, summer clothes and a great desire for adventure, because in the largest of the Caribbean islands you will always find endless cultural activities that will surprise you.

However, this year, for the moment, and due to the Covid 19 pandemic, the only destinations open for tourists in Cuba are Cayo Santa María, Cayo Guillermo, Cayo Coco, Cayo Cruz and Cayo Largo del Sur. Varadero is not among the open destinations for international tourism, as it has been limited for Cuban tourists.

An offer for all tastes

Similarly, the wide range of cultural activities in Cuba has been limited, as Havana continues in phase zero of lockdown. However, the rest of the island's provinces are entering a stage of new normality. So, we can slowly retake a cultural agenda in Cuba.

Anyhow, we offer you our selection of the events of the cultural agenda in Cuba in September. We find most them interesting for all those who are currently on the island, as well as for those who are following Cuban culture worldwide. Now that online concerts, micro-plays, virtual exhibition tours are a trend, we cannot miss commenting on those initiatives also taking place in the Cuban scene online.

For all audiences and all tastes we offer a proposal that you will not be able to ignore to enjoy the cuban cultura. You'll be able to enjoy its people, its humor, its sports tradition and its good vibes.

September is a month of religious traditionsIf you like to be into Afro-Cuban culture and religion and learn more about their traditional practices, this month includes two activities that are well known in Cuba. We are talking about September 7 the Day of Yemayá, goddess of the seas in the Yoruba religion. This day Cubans by tradition go to the sea to make an offering to the Yoruba goddess, such as flowers and fruits that are thrown into the water.

The intention of this offering is for the goddess to protect and fulfill the wishes of the believers who worship her. The meeting point is usually El Malecón, where many people from diverse backgrounds gather. The following day, September 8, the religious celebrations continue, this time with Nuestra Señora de la Caridad del Cobre parade, patron saint of Cuba. This event has great symbolism within Cuban culture and religion,as it is an event attended by thousands of faithful , which offers us the opportunity to know first-hand how Catholic traditions are lived in Cuba..

If you live in Cuba, you can travel to Varadero. For you, the Singles party by Meliá Cuba will be that event that you do not want to miss. An intense program of activities is organized at the Meliá Las Antillas. It is full of surprises and a lot of adrenaline in one of the most popular beaches in Cuba: Varadero. The list of activities includes cocktails on the beach, pool games, cocktail classes, theme parties, dance classes, boat trips, evening shows, and an excursion to Havana.

In short, it is designed so that you enjoy to the fullest, you socialize and you can keep this experience as a unique memory. If you want to explore more of the nature places that Varadero offers you, consult our tour Havana-Varadero and don't miss our excursion to Cayo Blanco Cuba.

If you like adventures and you would like to travel with your group of friends to Cuba, check here. how it all went down for these guys!

This contest takes place every two years at Holguín but this year, due to the pandemic, it had to be postponed to 2021. However, the event organizers have thought of an alternative that will take place through digital platforms, including live transmission from Facebook Live. It will be a space where you can enjoy what you have experienced in past editions and which will condense various materials that function as a memory of previous years.

You will be able to browse interviews, videos of dance pieces performed in the contest, photographs and other content online so that you still appreciate the work of young dancers and choreographers who have come to the island from countries such as Spain, Mexico, Uruguay and United States, etc. If you are one of those who loves dance and knows the long tradition that classical and modern dance has in Cuba, you cannot ignore this initiative that will arrive this year under the motto “Memorias de un Festival”.

If you live in Cuba, you will have a chance to put your body in motion at Half Maratón Varadero taking place on September 27th. If you are into sports, you will not want to miss this experience, along a unique place: Varadero. Firstly, at the start of the race, you will be able to run along the coasts of Matanzas coastline and enjoy wonderful views of the Bay of Cárdenas on the way. The circuit then enters the well-known Varadero, bordering Josone Park to finish its last kilometers in the final area of the peninsula, heading Playa de la Caleta where runners will face their last kms.

If you live in Havana, currently in lockdown phase, but likely to restablish some normality within the month. And as dance and groove are typical of Cuba, there is always a wide range of activities that include this artistic manifestation. One that Cubans like in Havana nowadays is the show “Arcángeles Project en el Tocororo”, taking place every Sunday. From 11pm you can enjoy performances of classics and contemporary pieces, blended with traditional spanish flamenco, by a group of young dance lovers. It is a good opportunity to enjoy a live show, while tasting some typical cuban food in a traditional cuban setting.

We highlight the online event "En Familia, with Damarys and Guests". If you want to keep up with cuban music and culture in general, we suggest you connect every friday 2:30pm (cuban time) with Facebook livestream, organized by Damarys Farrés, cuban dancer living in the UK. In each thematic meeting you will be able to learn different styles of dance steps, guided by Damarys herself and by professional dancers and choreographers who she invites.

Who said that you can only learn to dance Cuban rhythms in Cuba? This project gives you the opportunity to get closer to cuban dance from the distance but with the help of authentic professionals who will guide you in each meeting of the interactive workshops, which can also be recorded at the end of each session. And if you want to continue exploring in traditional Cuban dances, we suggest you check our thematic tour Havana and salsa

If you are in Havana and like art regarding its visual dimension, you will be interested in this exhibition called «No confundir el lunes con el domingo», by artist Nelson Jalil, which is held during all september by Galería Servando, in the center of Vedado. This Gallery is one of our recommended spaces from our entry Unique experiences to do in Havana.

The sensitivity that the exhibition arouses is worth a visit, since in it the creator establishes a contact from the very title of the exhibition with the pandemic situation we are experiencing globally. When every day at home seemed the same to us and time was "distorted". This has motivated the artist to present his canvases in various formats and installations. In them, he represents objects of our daily use and connects us with situations that we live daily, inside our home, but with a witty twist from the artist.

If you want to find out a little more about the artistic scene in Cuba, you can check our recommendations in the article "What to see about art and architecture in Havana?"  and when it is possible to visit Havana, you can discover 2 themed city tours about visual arts in Old Havana and Vedado?

We added an online collective exhibition “Distancias conectadas Volumen 2…hablan ellas” featuring sixteen Cuban women artists. This exhibition deals with the subject of the pandemic. You can enjoy it from socials of NGO Galería Transeúntes @ instagram and  facebook. This event joins the initiatives that are taking place in the networks to generate content around art and culture, while showing the feminine imaginary taking over contemporary cuban art. VIDEO HERE

We find yet another online cultural activity in September in Cuba: Online concerts #EstamosContigo organized by the Ministry of Culture since the beginning of the pandemic. It is a free-access iniciative which allows us to enjoy the diversity of the latest cuban music. This event is ideal to dance to the rithm of cuban combos as well as to hum the best-known songs of the island's musical repertoire. It is an excellent opportunity to enjoy the diversity of cuban music, as artists perform popular and classic setlists. You can browse it through YouTube Channel of the Ministry of Culture.

And if you like theater you cannot miss the online dramatic projects about cuban culture cuban culture. You have many options to enjoy a cuban play avoiding traditional on-site theater. As an option, you can find "Oh Cuba", a play featuring more than 20 spanish and cuban artists pay homage to Federico García Lorca and his time in the Island. The staging includes texts by Federico García Lorca, classics and unpublished, along with poems by Nicolás Guillén. Enjoy it on youtube here.

It is true that September is within the rainy season in Cuba. However, that should not be a throwback for you to discover Cuba.

Cuba is an everlasting summer! The climate is very stable, and the temperatures are mild throughout the year, so you can bathe in the sea all year round.

The hottest months are from June to September, the humidity is higher and can be overwhelming at times, so having a pool or beach nearby is really useful.

These months the most likely to rain in Cuba (from May to October). The rains can be intense at times, but don't last long. The sun will come out shortly, so you can carry out your scheduled activities and still visit best beaches and cays in Cuba.

This is also the hurricane season, which mainly covers the months of August, September and October. However, this does not mean that they always occur. And if that is the case, the country has an efficient alert system. Hurricanes are foreseen with enough time to react and not all have the same intensity.

Besides beaches, during this time of the year you can enjoy nature tourism and discover fauna and flora marvels.

As a benefit, if you travel to Cuba in September, you can find cheaper options as the tourist peak season ranges from November until April.

As you can see, to enjoy the authentic Cuba and its Cultural offer, you have a lot of options, although we are in a context marked by the “new normal”.

From our custom made travel agency CubaUnique , we suggest you don't miss any of our recommendations to travel to Cuba without complications.

We suggest some of our most popular preset routes , and, if possible, spend at least 10 days in Cuba to avoid missing the essentials, and above all, we recommend that you closely follow our suggestion of activities on the blog if you plan a cultural trip to Cuba to keep you up to date on the events you don't want to miss.

Unique experiences to do in Havana , honeymoon , group trips with friends , student trips , family trips, business trips

Culture is universal! Do you dare to enjoy the diverse Cuban culture ?

Julienne López Hernández

Degree in History of Art

www.artisticulturaltheory.com

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