[:es]Great Expectation When Habano Festival is About to Open[:]

The present version of the Festival (February 26 thru March 2, at the Havana Convention Center) could receive over one thousand persons of 50 nations.

At the event the main novelties of the year will be presented, besides its traditional activities such as the Welcoming Night and tours to the best tobacco plantations in the Vuelta Abajo Zone (in the Cuban west).

The agenda also includes visits to the most emblematic habano factories, the comercial fair, seminars, the international contest Habanosommelier, master lectures as that of rolling cigars, the gala dinner and closing ceremony and the humidifier auction.

This meeting is highly symbolic of this island’s cigar industry, thus it attracts so many merchants, accessories producers, artists and specialized journalists in the tobacco industry.

Cuba is considered by experts as the birthplace of the best Premium (hand-rolled) tobacco of the world, for its triple condition of soil, climate and experience of producers.

Each year at the Festival participants are shown the novelties in special cigars, many of which are especially attractive to collectionists. The brands to be honored this year are Cohiba and Partagas.

The auction of humidifiers filled with habanos of the most outstanding brands are sold for significant figures that are destined to the national health system, as organizers repeat every year.

In this occasion, a detail that may be interesting is the capacity of this Cuban agroindustry to recover from atmospheric phenomena as was the case of hurricane Irma that ravaged the island from last September 5 thru 11.

The same as other previous events, Cuban tobacco plantations recovered and, above all, maintained its quality which characterizes the habanos in the world market.

Now the Festival is proof to emphasize the worth of Cuban tobacco, and the effort of those who participate in this agroindustry, one of the most significant of the island’s economy. (Prensa Latina)