Hello. My girlfriend and I are going to Havana. I have interest in Rumba music and Santeria religion.
Is there a section in Havana to see the street music or peformance?
Also, is there a decent hotel maybe centrally located in Havana? Maybe about $120.00 dollars a day?
Any info would be helpful. I am planning to be in Havana in week.
Thanks.
jonah84
3
rob01
There is an outdoor club in the vedado district of havana that is very famous for its saturday afternoons rumba shows, but i can not actually remember the name- so this isnt tremendously useful, but ask around, it is well known in vedado- there is also a club close to plaza de la cathedral who also hold saturday afternoon 4-6 ish performances also, again i dont recall the name but you can ask people about it, im sure they will point you in the right direction- bottom line is, just ask people in bars, clubs, whoever, everybody is willing to help, though usually for a tip,lol so be careful-
as youve got a pretty decent budget, i recommend hotel nacional (the most famous hotel in the country), where there are rooms for this price- or the old hilton hotel nearby the habana libre, both are in vedado, in my opinion the best locations in the city- stay in vedado as most clubs, bars, restaurents etc are here, and it is also generally nicer- you can always get to the old town and central havana in a taxi (about 2 or 3 cuc)- but vedado is generally a nicer area, less hustlers etc first thing in the morning- drop me a pm if you any more advice
4
anonymous
The link Caney (#1) gave you above is the place to be at Sunday at 12:00 noon. Rumba sessions and a looooot of Cubans.
Be aware of pickpockets!
5
rcurzon
Jonah , you can check a couple of websites for events like that...
Creart
CubaPlus
They kind of assume you know some things ... e.g. Folklore = african religious and sometimes rumba (the revolution didn't like religion at one time ;-). Also that you know the groups, which of course most people won't Espuela d Gallo is a folkloric group, truly excellent. Same with Ballet Rakatan, though you might not know from the names!
There are 3 places that I think still have rumbas at least once a week: Gran Palenque, Callejon Hamel, Huron Azul.
You can also see a clip of rumba and folkloric from just a few weeks ago in Hanava... it just happens to be up this week at: Muchoswing
6
davfitz
#3
<blockquote>Quote
<hr>or the old hilton hotel nearby the habana libre<hr></blockquote>
Cute! Are they not one and the same?
9
rcurzon
Oggun ... for more info re Gran Palenque, I'd check the Havana guide books (like Lonely Planet should have info!) and talk to your contacts when you are in Havana, they should know all these places.
And when you get there, try to have someone phone and confirm events within a few days, schedules can change.
Pro tip
Lonely Planet
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