The 23rd edition of the Habano Festival begins today in this capital city to enlighten markets on the world's most demanded premium tobacco product.
During five days (February 27 to March 3), meetings, tastings, presentations, samples and debates will take place in this city and other scenarios, especially in the western region of Cuba, with people coming from more than 70 countries.
However, this Festival, whose first version was in 1999 (interrupted in person by the Covid-19 pandemic) had an interesting antecedent.
This initiative began in 1994, during the 150th anniversary of the H.Upmann brand. The festival lasted only two days (September 20-21) and was very well received.
The meeting as such took place at the Havana peripheral restaurant Las Ruinas. It was a dinner prepared by the famous Cuban chef Gilberto Smith Duquesne (1920-2010), who made lobster reign supreme at the table.
At that meal, three H.Upmann vitolas were tasted: Preciosa, Mareva and Sir Winston, and a panel evaluated the cigars that would later become Upmann No.4 and Petit Corona.
The historical list shows that from September 19 to 21, 1995, it was the turn of the 150th anniversary of the Partagás brand, one of the most demanded in the world. The dinner was held on that occasion at the Meliá Cohiba Hotel, inaugurated that year, in the Cetro Room, and was attended by 300 personalities from 30 countries, including Hollywood artists Matt Dillon, Seymour Cassel and Joe Pantoliano.
On that occasion, the Habano Man of the Year Award (now known as the Habano Award) was presented for the first time to the then president of Tabacalera Española S.A., Pedro Pérez (Commerce) and the editor of the U.S. magazine Cigar Aficionado, Marvin Shankeen (Communications).
Subsequently, this award included the area of Production, as it is currently awarded, and women appeared on the list, hence the change of name.
After other preparatory meetings, then in 1999 the calls of this type became the Habano Festival, and finally its date of realization occurred from the end of February to the first days of March each year, with the attendance of more than a thousand people from 70 countries.
The high quality of Habanos, considered the best Premium (handmade) cigars in the world, and the repeated attention of experts and cigar aficionados on this meeting, turned the Festival into the most relevant tobacco marketing event on the planet, as it continues to this day.