the Cigar Festival of the Havana, which is considered to be the world’s most important event of its kind, was held in the capital of Cuba, Havana. This year the event was attended by about 1,200 guests from 60 countries.
The Cigar Festival is one of the newer festivals to be held here in Havana and is a great event for those who are interested in the art of Cuba. The Cigar Festival was first held in 1999, and until now it has been held for eight times.
The annual festival brings hundreds of cigar lovers to Cuba. During the weeklong event, not only does it include a detailed history of the cigar, but there are opportunities to visit tobacco farms and cigar factories to learn all about the production process. Cigar lovers travel across the world and pay thousands of dollars to experience the cigar of high quality at its birthplace.
During a non-competitive event for cigar rollers at the 8th Festival of Havana 2006, Cuban cigar roller, Jose Castelar Cayro (Cueto) set a Guinness record for the longest cigar in the world, at 20.41 meters. This is the third time for him to set the world record. He first set the record with a cigar of 11.04 meters. Later, in 2003, his 14.86-meter-long cigar helped him break his own record.
Cigars are one of Cuba’s most important exports, worth about $340 million every year.