 Antonio (Tony) Iznaga, better known on the island as "El Jilguerito" |
Several personalities of Cuban culture and music from our countryside have come to this edition of Cucalambeana Fiesta. 26 spoke with two who have experienced these festivities firsthand.
Las Tunas, Cuba.- Emiliano Sardiñas Copello, known as the Backpack Poet, considers that his artistic growth is closely linked to this festival: "I am one of the artists who has been coming to these celebrations for the longest time, I have been with this edition for 31 uninterrupted years. I've been there since the grassroots and municipal celebrations, all the way to El Cornito.
"I feel good in many spaces like the Catauro de la Décima, where we find a sentimental refuge, a loving corner where we don't just read; we embrace each other and meet in The Ruins that resist time and absorb our energy. We exchange greetings and affection, for us, it is a ritual, a necessary routine every time there is a Cucalambeana Day".
For Emiliano, it is like returning to a house he has kept in another place where he feels like family.
Antonio (Tony) Iznaga, better known on the island as "El Jilguerito", accompanies these celebrations every year, every day, and keeps in his heart the affection of the people of Las Tunas for his family."
About Las Tunas he feels that "it is a people that fully enjoys the peasant genre, the traditional music that we make. "
"Since my parents, Inocente Iznaga, "El Jilguero de Cienfuegos," and Martica Morejón, have welcomed us with much love. These lands bring me different emotions and events, great composers from here have made songs that my father interpreted and that I now sing. It is gratifying to feel the closeness with which these songs are requested all over Cuba."
"I have been singing Punto Guajiro since I was a child, I like son montuno and it is a tradition to be at the “Cucalambeana” every year."
"Professionally I've been coming here since 1992, but I've grown up in this place since I was four years old, I used to come with my parents and we would stay at El Cornito: I know this place like the back of my hand. I experienced the organ music all night, and the presence of artists from other genres, such as Pedro Luis Ferrer and Miriam Ramos, who gave prestige to the event."
"I have received a lot from Las Tunas, I had the honor of being given the seal for another anniversary of the Fiesta, and now I have just been awarded the plaque for the 195th anniversary of El Cucalambé. Another of the many attentions of the people from Las Tunas.”
The words of gratitude and attachment to this party traditions, the feelings of the great cultural figures of our countryside, come to the Cuban peasantry's supreme guateque to leave their mark on its importance.
