The Cucalambeana Fiesta, which is considered the Supreme Party of the Cuban Peasantry, will be held in the province between June 28 and July 2. Its design will include the usual proposals and other novelties, following the intention of rethinking the event to achieve greater sociocultural impact, its organizers informed at a press conference.

The event will be dedicated to the 194th birthday of Juan Cristóbal Nápoles Fajardo (El Cucalambé), Cuba's greatest bucolic poet of the 19th century; to intellectual Haydée Santamaría Cuadrado; to poet and plastic artist Renael González Batista; and the 45th anniversary of the System of Culture Houses. Several initiatives will pay tribute to these motivations through shows, research, book presentations, and recognition of outstanding artists.

OF INTENTIONS AND NOVELTIES

From a new visual identity, based on the reconstruction of the image of the author of Rumores del Hórmigo, from original lithography and with the help of artificial intelligence, to new contests such as the design contest called Vestido de Guayabera, the revelry advocates for a somewhat different conception, adjusted to the current times; but always in defense of the Cuban identity. The Canturías (Singings), for example, will not return to the nights of El Cornito but will be held at other times; one of them will come at night to Cucalambé Street, on July 1, the birthday of the bard to whom the event is dedicated.

On the agenda are the second editions of the Carlos Escalona Tune Contest and the Identity and Diversity Colloquium, sponsored by the Provincial Center of Culture Houses (CPCC). According to Anaís Ray Haynes, head of that entity, municipalities for the first contest, which will also include guests from Cienfuegos and Havana, are currently selecting participants.

As for the second initiative, despite having points that coincide with the Ibero-American Colloquium of the Décima, it differs by emphasizing "what happens in the communities subordinate to the Cucalambeana Fiesta as studies on instruments present in the celebration, families that cultivate the traditional genres, customs, creole foods, and other topics.”

According to Darlenis Urquiola, provincial director of Culture, "We support, from the very conception of the event, the National Program for the Advancement of Women and the Food Sovereignty Plan. We designed, for example, the First Women's Essences Photographic Salon and the Space for the Exchange of Experiences of Rural Women's Lives, History, and Reality.

"We want to contribute to the empowerment of women, not only taking into account race, sex, or gender but also their participation in the different processes of society. That essence is vital in activities such as the Homage to Rural Women show, where the Birama Flower will be selected, which not respond to beauty contests, but to the representation of typical traits of Creole women," she explained.

The directive highlighted the importance of the alliances for the design of the general program, which have joined - besides the institutions that normally participate in its management - others such as the University of Las Tunas and the Center for Exchange and Reference-Community Initiative (CIERIC). And he added as a novel moment the presentation of the book Hay que defender la Vida, an integral compilation of texts by Haydée Santamaría (compiled by Jaime Gómez Triana and Ana Niria Albo Díaz), published by Casa de las Américas and Ocean Sur publishers.

CONTESTS AND MORE GARNISHES

Ramón Batista, director of the El Cucalambé Ibero-American House of the Décima (an institution that will celebrate its third decade in December), said that the two most relevant contests in the field of octosyllabic rhyme will be awarded: "Cucalambé" (written décima) and "Justo Vega" (repentismo).

"The first one has a cash prize, with 30 thousand pesos in local currency for the winner, plus 10 thousand for copyright and the publication of the book by the Sanlope publishing house. So far around 15 notebooks are participating in this contest, but the call for entries will remain open until the 30th of this month, so the number may increase.”

"The second contest will have the participation of 10 contenders from different provinces and whoever reaches the podium will receive 10,000 pesos, while the winner of the Popularity Award will receive 2,000 pesos," explained Batista.

For her part, specialist Leticia Fernández, in charge of the Ibero-American Tenth Colloquium, commented that papers would be received until May 30. "A dozen of researches have already been delivered, carried out by authors from several provinces, addressing topics such as the Punto Cubano, humorism in the décima, the work of Renael González.... In addition, we will honor the Canary Islands traditions in Cuba and authorities related to that folklore will share interesting studies", he argued.

The visual arts will also be represented in several spaces, the highlight of which will be the National Salon of Landscape, Illustrated Décima, and Popular Crafts, the result of the best creations presented in the more than 350 community events developed before the great event.

Maida Rodríguez, in charge of the Provincial Council of Plastic Arts, added that an exhibition by Camagüey plastic artist Aly Hamouni Arias will also be shown at the Provincial Committee of the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba, and a collective exhibition resulting from the Confluences event (promoted from Majibacoa), which will be shared at the provincial branch of the Nicolás Guillen Foundation.

Acirys Espinosa, editor-in-chief of the "Sanlope," recalled that the Catauro de la Décima, in addition to hosting the awarding of the Cucalambé contest, embraces the competition of glosses Canto Alrededor del Punto and that of Poesía de Cordel, which enhance the cultivation of the "peninsular traveler", in its written version.

"Each day of that space, led by writers, will be dedicated to one or two titles that won the Cucalambé contest and we are doing our best to publish the two recent notebooks that have won in that contest, although we still have problems with the issue of the covers. Likewise, we want to honor the memory of Renael González and honor Pedro Péglez, for his contributions to the defense of the national stanza," expressed the official.

GROUPS THAT DEFEND TRADITIONS

The Décima Cuerda project, from Ciego de Ávila, and poets of the stature of Sindi Manuel Torres are among the participants in the Guateque Supremo. In addition, according to Anaís Ray, other exponents have been invited -who hopefully will be able to attend- such as María Victoria Rodríguez, Tomasita Quiala, Emiliano Sardiñas, José Antonio Iznaga (El Jilguerito de Cienfuegos), Orismay Hernández and Juan Carlos García Guridi.

Likewise, "it is expected that we will be accompanied by international groups such as students and teachers from the Escuela de Décima de Caracas, who will be here for the first time, as well as other prestigious personalities and artists, among them Maher El-Adawy (Ambassador of Egypt in Cuba), the folkloric ballet Alma de México, a representation of the Universidad Juárez Autónoma de Tabasco (from Aztec land) and the municipality of La Ceiba (Honduras), mayors of Veracruz, the Italian plastic artist Antonio Scarpelli and the president of the Dominican-Haitian community in the Dominican Republic," informed Yanetsy Ramírez León, a specialist in International Relations of the Provincial Directorate of Culture.

OTHER INSIDE INFORMATION

The countdown begins. Both local and foreign talent will display their creations. El Cornito will host the Crafts Fair, autochthonous games, very Creole contests such as the traditional dishes contest, the provincial meeting of musical groups Del Son al Son, the children's space Cantos de Colibrí, the Bohío Campesino (with the usual presentation of the group Raíces Soneras and others such as Petit Dancé), shows for children and adults.

Darlenis Urquiola, provincial director of Culture, said that this is going to be a somewhat different event, since they are beginning to experiment with changes in its conception, to take better advantage of its potentialities. "We dream in the long term that it will not remain only an artistic event, but that all the entities of the province will come to visualize the Jornada Cucalambeana as a community socio-cultural process, vital for the formation of Las Tuna's identity," she said.

To achieve this goal, it is worth remembering these words of Ramon Batista: "The Cucalambeana Day is not only of Las Tunas; the country must defend it; in fact, in other Cuban territories peasant festivals are held. And it is not something that is limited to a few days, because community and municipal chapters are held beforehand. Its success and maintenance depend on many hands, which sometimes, even from anonymity, contribute to the preservation of an essential part of our idiosyncrasy. The 'Cucalambeana' is still alive because it is the essence and result of a tradition.”