Havana Drum Festival 2024 with the Rumbata Group
Photo Feature by Idania Cardenas
HAVANA TIMES – The Rumbata group was created in 1996 by Wilmer Joel Ferrer, from Camaguey, Cuba, who decided to create a musical group dedicated to cultivating rumba.
Declared Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO since 2006, they decided to explore its fusion with other sounds. Thus, the group (rumba and batá) emerges, suggesting from its name that what is going to be heard goes beyond the conservative treatment of the genre to delve into the search for other melodic and rhythmic expressions such as timba, trova, salsa, rap, Latin jazz, and mozambique.
The result is incredible, with marvelous vocal arrangements combined with the difficult clave of rumba. Using a popular language, the song lyrics include phrases of the moment, making themselves understood by the entire Cuban audience. With their music, they delighted the attendees who gathered at Hamel Alley, a place in the capital dedicated to honoring Afro-Cuban culture. To the rhythm of rumba, on Sunday, March 10th, in Havana, the 21st edition of the Drum Festival concluded, an annual international event with a competitive character.
The drums conclude their rumba sessions until 2025, and this festival presided over by the Cuban musician Giraldo Piloto, will have to wait 12 months to open its next program of activities and competitions.
