Cuba Gets Set for the International Habano Festival
Cigar aficionados and lovers of the ultimate smoke will huddle in Havana from February 21 to 25 for the seventh edition of the International Habano Festival.
Manuel Garcia, marketing vice president of Habanos Corp. S.A., said in a recent press conference that as many as 958 attendants from 53 nations (and counting) have already signed up for the big bash.
Much anticipated by deluxe smokers, the festival of connoisseurs and lovers of the world´s best cigars will this time around zero in on Partagas, a brand that will celebrate its 160th anniversary, followed by Hoyo de Monterrey´s 140th birthday, Romeo & Juliet´s 130th anniversary and Montecristi, that reaches 70 years of existence.
This year´s festival, including the opening and closing ceremonies, will take place at Pavilion 24 of the EXPOCUBA Fairgrounds.
The varied program will feature the traditional last-day auction and the presentation of the Habano Man of the Year Awards in four different categories: best producer, communicator, retailer and businessperson. In addition to the welcome cocktail at the National Museum of Fine Arts, attendants will participate in the Dealer´s Night, organized by a group of exclusive cigar marketers and salespeople from Canada.
The new edition will highlight cigars and their contribution to the island nation´s cultural values, traditions and customs, and how that impact has been reflected in music, fine arts and history. China and Brazil will come to the festival with full-fledged delegations for the first time ever.
There´ll be visits to tobacco plantations in the outskirts of Havana and to the Tobacco Research Institute, also near the capital. The program includes a lunch break at a farm near Lenin Park, run by CIMEX, also in the outskirts of the nation´s capital.
Organizers have also planned grand tours around the Partagas and Dorados cigar factories, where visitors will talk to cigar rollers, experts and execs. Bassat Ogilvy Consejeros de Comunicación, a prestigious communication firm, will be in charge of providing the logistics and catering to attendants every step of the way.
The traditional Habano Sommelier Contest, the Third Whiskey & Cigar Challenge, and a sampling session of top-drawer stogies and Armagnac are also expected to draw huge crowds.
