The Cucalambeana Fiesta is underway again and Juan Cristóbal seems to multiply in the new batch of poets. There is also no shortage of "Rufinas" and that smell of colander, corn, yarey, and other very Creole aromas, which slip through the bamboo of El Cornito to embrace cultivators of the most authentic Cuban tradition.
Friends from other countries have come to accompany us: Mexico, Honduras, Chile, Timor-Leste, Denmark, and even from the nation of Cleopatra and the famous pyramids. From that mythical land, His Excellency Mr. Maher El-Adawy, Ambassador of Egypt in Cuba, will give a lecture. In addition, there are rhapsodes who, because they are regulars at the event, are an essential part of the revelry such as Emiliano Sardiñas and Sindi Manuel Torres.
The so-called "peninsular traveler" is pleased not only in contests such as "Cucalambé" (national, in written décima) and "Justo Vega" (improvised décima); but in various spaces, controversies, songs, and others as essential such as the Catauro de la Décima, which writers tend to lead elegantly.
The theoretical part is not left behind in the Cuban Supreme Guateque and, therefore, it consists of two robust platforms to express: the Diversity, Essence, and Identity Colloquium, and the Ibero-American of the Décima. On the agenda are presentations on the Cuban Point, humor in the spinel, the work of the late artist Renael González, and issues inherent to the biggest fiesta of the Cuban peasantry.
The visual arts are also well represented and are decked out in the national halls of Landscape, Illustrated Décima, and Popular Crafts; echoes of the best creations presented in more than 350 community Cucalambeana events developed this year. In addition, the Provincial Committee of the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC), the provincial branch of the Nicolás Guillén Foundation, and El Cucalambé Ibero-American Center for the Décima, exhibit landscape samples.
The children maintain their Cantos de Colibrí, in El Cornito, and they are also starring other initiatives such as the first show that now honors Juan Cristóbal Nápoles Fajardo, the greatest bucolic poet of the 19th century in Cuba, to be developed in the evening of this Thursday, in the Cultural Plaza.
This year, activities have been born such as the Guayabera Dress contest, promoted by the Provincial Center of Houses of Culture, under the auspices of the Cuban Fund for Cultural Assets; the presentation of the book We Must Defend Life, by Haydée Santamaría, and the 1st Esencias de Mujer Rural Photographic Salon, which will host the Las Tunas headquarters of the Union of Cuban Journalists (UPEC).
The Recital of Decimist Women, the usual Crafts Fair, traditional games and dishes competitions, the provincial meeting of musical groups Del Son al Son, characterizing spaces such as the Bohío Campesino, the election of the Flor de Birama, the nightly galas, the homage to El Cucalambé from the street that bears his name, complement the event that is committed to recovering its splendor.
So, peasant, saddle the horse; and, you, lady of the countryside, don't be left behind, put a poppy in your tangled hair because the Cucalambeana Fiesta awaits you. The lute is already heard. Welcome!