Festival Piña Colada (Cuban Fusion Music Festival)

About the Festival

You will find that there are many festivals in Cuba that relate to food, drink, and dance.

One such festival which takes place annually in April in the Ciego de Avila province is the ‘Festival Piña Colada‘.

This event has evolved into a sizeable one, which attracts a large crowd of visitors and several hundred musicians who are interested in contemporary Cuban music.

This is a festival that has gained great popularity due to its focus on youth development.

It also on bringing together people from all areas of Cuban society, to enjoy the best of modern Cuban music.

This festival was founded by the larger-than-life character Arnaldo Rodríguez, the singer who is famous within Cuban music circles and sings with his group, which he also directs, the ‘El Talisman Orchestra’.

Ceballos

The song “Ceballos” is credited with being the song which made this festival famous!

This catchy and popular tune by Arnaldo gives him the following which enabled him to start ‘Festival Piña Colada’.

The festival is now seen as a pilgrimage of sorts, very similar to Glastonbury in the UK, in that is it more than just a music festival and one that brings people together every year to celebrate a variety of talents and to give a platform to amateur and up-and-coming artists, as well as seasoned performers.

In recent years, Arnaldo Rodríguez has directed the festival to highlight youth and create opportunities for the youth of Cuba.

In addition to many live music performances, the festival also includes a number of keynote speeches, documentaries screenings, presentations, and discussions on music, culture, and youth in Cuba.

This emphasis on youth is reflected in a lot of the music you can expect to hear here at the festival: dance music, jazz, hip hop, and really is a range of diverse fusion styles with a lot of experimental music.

Students from universities across Cuba congregate in Ciego de Avila for this event, a clear sign of its importance in the youth movement here.