Havana- The fascinating UNESCO heritage site

When Fidel Castro's revolutionary forces moved into Havana January 1, 1959, many things immediately changed in Cuba. One thing of significance was the ambitious construction plans to build casinos and high-rise hotels in Havana were immediately halted. Had these projects been completed many old and historically significant buildings would have been razed. This destruction would have eliminated precious historical areas for good. Luckily now the Havana skyline remains virtually unchanged since 1959, as the government places an emphasis on restoring existing buildings and preserving historically significant structures.


Havana's wonderful buildings and history make it the most fascinating city in the Caribbean. Matt Cousins, an architecture student in London England has an interesting website of the amazing architecture of Havana. Two agencies have the responsibility for the city's historic preservation. The City Historian's Department of Architecture Office and The National Centre for Conservation, Restoration and Museum studies (CENCREM). The city historian Eusebio Leal Spengler heads the Habaguanex group. Many elegant hotels and buildings have been beautifully restored by the Habaguanex organization which partners with other countries for these restoration projects. One country involved and very supportive of these endeavours is Spain. Spain's history is of course forever linked to Cuba as it was Spanish settlers who founded the city 490 years ago.

Now the greatest threat to the architecture of Old Havana is not the demolition cranes of greedy developers unconcerned with culture and history. It is the punishing blows of Mother Nature herself who visits Cuba regularly with tropical storms and hurricanes. An army of skilled workers toil doing the never-ending task to restore and preserve the historic buildings. Because of their dedicated efforts the citizens of Cuba and visitors to the island can appreciate the beauty and history of this unique UNESCO World Heritage site.

The new generation of Celtic artists in Cuba and Canada

The top pic is Crasher Squirrel and the Asturian Band! The photo of the gaitera is my friend Susana de la Cruz, and I love the last photo which she sent me!. She is in the centre with the rest of the Gaiteros de La Habana-, Arturo Miguel Perez, Marcel Nazabal, Abel Larrea and Alejandro Gispert, at the Celtic Colours Festival in 2008. They are young, energetic and part of the new generation of artists with whom lies the future of celtic music in Cuba. Fiddler Chrissy Crowley noted in her article in CelticLife Magazine "...in parallel with the music scene of my native Nova Scotia, traditional music is enjoying a resurgence thanks to the interest of Cuba’s younger generation". I've also read on the internet about a documentary Los Últimos Gaiteros de La Habana "The Last Pipers of Havana" and it has parallels to the Canadian CBC documentary "The Vanishing Cape Breton Fiddler" which caused a strong reaction and was the impetus in the formation of the Cape Breton Fiddlers Association , its mandate to preserve the culture of Cape Breton music and mentor the younger generation has proved to be an outstanding success. Travel writer Rolf Potts notes in his article in the UK's Guardian newspaper "I discovered that bagpipes are the passion of wicked-smart twentysomething Havana University graduates with a love of music ." In Cuba and Cape Breton it is cool to be Celtic if you are young!

Last weekend I attended the Rollo Bay Fiddle Festival in Eastern King’s County, Prince Edward Island. It is an excellent event and if you are a fiddler or music fan interested in the Scottish style of fiddle music preserved and performed on the islands of Cape Breton and PEI, then this is the festival for you!
This event exemplifies how grass-roots community involvement produces outstanding success. There is no huge budget. The festival relies on volunteers and local support. The organisers are warm and welcoming to visitors who would like experience the rich traditional music of their beautiful province, known as “The Gentle Island”. It is the best fiddle event in the world, in my opinion, and I’ve attended many.
Proceeds from the Rollo Bay Festival are used to give free fiddle lessons year-round to local young people. Other programs and events to encourage young people are offered by the PEI Fiddlers Society. The results of these initiatives are jaw-dropping. The festival presents a youth concert on the Friday night. Local young musicians play at a level of virtuosity beyond their years.
The festival started in 1976 with the efforts of Bishop Faber MacDonald, The Eastern Kings Fiddlers Association and Joe Pete Chaisson, whose sons and grandchildren are now prominently known as traditional fiddlers . The popular young celtic-pop group Kindle , acclaimed nationally and globally, was comprised of members of the young Chaisson generation. They have an Acadian surname, but are known as Scottish style fiddlers.
The Acadian style fiddling is also presented at the festival. Fiddlers like Anastasia Desroches perform and give workshops at the event. The respect and recognition of the different fiddle styles of the vibrant traditional music scene of the island is inspiring.
I remember the first time I went to this event four years ago. The “tuning room” is a small shed to the left of the stage. The picture with this blog entry is a photo from last year's festival in the tuning room.( Tim Chaisson and Chrissy Crowley are playing fiddle with a fiddler tourist from Japan. Troy MacGillivray is listening.) After the stage performances the fiddlers converge in the room. There is no sentry at the door to exclude the hoi polloi. Everyone is allowed access. We met a fiddler named Allan MacDonald. His gracious unassuming attitude is similar to the other local PEI fiddlers. He was genuinely interested and welcoming to visitors from away. He invited me to play along with the others and it was such a fabulous memorable experience for me. His son Ward is a noted fiddler and composer and his PEI pop fiddle hit “2nd of December” was written for Allan’s birthday.
I used to manage the group “The McCarrel Sisters” who recorded a Brenda Stubbert tune Peter and Doreen Chaisson’s March on their album “Wide Awake and Dreaming” . I was so pleased to meet Peter and Doreen in person! Both are tireless workers at this festival, and they must get very little sleep. Their efforts and the efforts of the rest of the Chaisson family are much appreciated.
The reason I have written about the Rollo Bay Festival on the CeltFest Cuba blog is that it the organizers of CeltFest Cuba will be relying on volunteers and local community involvement just like the Rollo Bay Festival. Rollo Bay’s fantastic success is inspirational to us all.

Mary McCarthy Gomez Cueto

On April 3, 2009 Mary McCarthy Gomez Cueto, born in St. John’s Newfoundland in 1900 passed away in Havana at the age 108. The world lost a gracious lady of steely determination and refinement. Mary’s story is a story of love. Love for her husband Pedro and love for her adopted country and its people. Canadian consul Mark Burger said "Mary McCarthy was perhaps the best welder of the friendship between the people of Cuba and Canada" (image by Reuters)
She met Pedro Gomez Cuento as a young music student in Boston. They married and settled in Havana in 1923, where they were part of the glamorous social swirl of the era. Pedro built her a mansion in an exclusive area of Havana and named it “Villa Mary” after his beloved bride. Frank Sinatra owned a house behind Villa Mary and was a guest at the gatherings around Mary’s Steinway grand piano. Pedro died in 1951 and she would remain unmarried for 57 years until they were reunited in death . Before his death Pedro deposited a considerable fortune and expensive jewellery (including three gold rosaries) in First National Bank In Boston. After the Cuban revolution in 1959, her husband’s former businesses where nationalized. Mary chose to remain living in Havana while her wealthy neighbours fled. When others urged her to leave, she steadfastly stayed put. Gradually the abandoned mansions were converted to embassies and diplomatic residences and Mary would give piano lessons to her new neighbours such as the daughter of Frank A. Campbell, Guyana’s ambassador to Cuba in the late seventies who wrote this article.
When asked why she didn’t return to her native Canada and renounce her Cuban citizenship so she could have access to the Boston Bank account the United States government had frozen she simply replied that Canada was too cold for her.
She lived on the modest pension from the Cuban government as a retiree until the American government relented and allowed her access to her account for medicines, but only 96$ a month.
For 50 years, instead of leaving and resuming her millionaire lifestyle Mary stayed in Cuba with her godson Elio Garcia by her side and is now is reunited with her beloved Pedro in death, and buried beside him the the Colon Cemetery.

Hola!
Hello!
Welcome to the CeltFest Cuba blog, your online source for information about the upcoming CeltFest in Havana. More information about our first festival will be posted soon. In the meantime check out this online magazine article about the Gaiteros de La Habana from CelticLife Magazine.
More information about the cuban pipers can be found on their blog Check back soon as more news will be posted!