Street theatre, cinema, conceptual art, photography, sculpture, avant garde theatre, interactive dance, and of course, every type of music, whatever one was seeking at the 16th edition of the Romerías de Mayo, the world festival of artistic youth, you were not disappointed.
Dedicated this year to the Canadian city of Montreal, the streets and squares of the eastern city of Holguín, with the traditional walk to the Hill of the Cross and the Hacha Taína (Taina Axe), symbolized the mixture of elements that constitute the Cubanculture.
In an environment of joy and confraternity, 150 young creators from all over the country exhibited their projects together with representatives from 20 countries in an extensive program in several places of the city.
Events like Memoria Nuestra (Our Memory) encouraged exchange of ideas about literary and artistic creation as well as discussions on the different cultural trendsin Cuba and the world.
Some of the other notable happenings included the literature performance at El Angelote, Babel, dedicated to arts (especially noteworthy were Costa Rican Queen Gzinga's "Art from my belly" and "ENNEGRO"), the audiovisual La Cámara Azul (Blue Camera), Raíces (Roots) a space dedicated to traditional culture, as well as symphonic, rap, rock and fusion music concerts.
Naturally in Cuba qua Cuba, the people of Holguín were the central protagonists: dancing, singing and interacting; united beyond any difference in religious beliefs, culture, sexual inclinations, customs or language. Mark your calendars now so as not to miss next year's spectacular world festival of artistic youth: Romerías de Mayo, in the eastern Cuban province of Holguín.