In the towns of central Cuba, neighbourhoods spend all year secretly building giant illuminated floats and firework displays to outdo their rivals on a single night — the Parrandas, first held in Remedios in 1820 and now recognised by UNESCO.
Photo: Raudelct, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Cuba’s entry in this atlas is Las Parrandas, a festival shared by eighteen communities in the centre of the island, in the former province of Las Villas. UNESCO inscribed it on its Representative List in 2018, describing it as always traditional and contemporary at the same time. The most famous Parrandas are those of Remedios, where the tradition began, held on Christmas Eve.
On one night of the year, the two rival neighbourhoods of a central Cuban town unveil what they have built in secret for months — towering light displays, floats with living statues and thousands of rockets — in the Parrandas that began in Remedios in 1820.
December 24 – 25, 2026Calculated