Written by: Ayesha Bennet
For many of us living in Jamaica, Christmas is the most anticipated season of the year. We wait with bated breaths to gather with our families, decorate our homes and inevitably eat the most delectable Christmas foods. For others this ideal of Christmas is not the norm and for many years and an entire generation, Christmas as we know it was a novel idea.
Until 1997, Christmas in Cuba was prohibited. In 1969, following the communist takeover by President Fidel Castro and his declaration of an atheist government and subsequently an atheist Cuba, paid Christmas holidays were abolished. For Cuba, Christmas also meant the sugar harvest, the island’s most important export. As such, from an economic standpoint, celebrating Christmas by going to church or staying home, interfered with the labour needed to support the government during the harvest season.
With the onset of the arrival of Pope John Paul II in 1997, President Castro authorized the celebration of Christmas in Cuba for that year only. Subsequently, in January 1998 under duress from the then Pope, President Castro agreed to recognise Christmas as a permanent religious holiday.
Twenty three years later, what is Christmas like in Cuba?
Over the last decade Christmas in Cuba has become more streamlined to what we in Jamaica are accustomed to, with more decorations, lights and trimmings to celebrate the season. Still not as widely commercialized, and still finding it’s footing among a generation of thirty and forty- something’s who were raised without the season’s festivities, what is Christmas in Cuba?
BUZZZ sat down to speak with Cuban born Wilver Castro, to discuss what Christmas in Cuba is like for him and his family.
Do you celebrate Christmas?
Yes, we do celebrate Christmas. We didn’t always but my family and I celebrate, now.
What is celebrating Christmas like for you and your household?
Christmas is about family, so we look forward to visits from relatives and gatherings.
In Jamaica, we have Jonkunoo and Grand Market. What festivities are celebrated in Cuba?
On the December 24, we celebrate Noche Buena and on December 31, we celebrate the coming of the New Year. These celebrations generally include a family dinner after which there is a big party. In larger cities there used to be fireworks on New Year’s Eve with a stage show and street party.
How does that time of year make you feel?
Christmas time in Cuba is a happy time; everyone is excited.
What food traditions are notorious with Christmas in Cuba?
There is usually a big family dinner on Noche Buena consisting of Puerco Asado (Pork), Yuca (Cassava) and Frioles Negros (Rice and Black Beans), Tamale (Corn) and Flan; a caramel custard pudding. Turon-which is a Banana Spring roll, deep fried and dusted with brown sugar, was also had which is a Spanish tradition, but not so much recently.
Related: Your perfect Potluck Christmas
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