The Vodu religious ceremony was the highlight of the National Afro-Caribbean Festival in memory of Eva Gaspar, that has been taking place in the central Cuban province of Ciego de Avila.

The festival was held in the Haitian community Sabicú, located in the northeast of Ciego de Avila, where they made dances, songs and rituals offering food to their gods. The traditional event brings together more than 300 participants and a dozen groups and practitioners of the music and dance of Haiti from various Cuban provinces. Organized by the Casa del Caribe, Santiago de Cuba and the Haitian Embassy in Havana, the festival is held annually in Sabicú, as the largest community of descendants of Haiti in the central region of Cuba. The celebrations honoring Eva Gaspar, a Haitian immigrant settled in the region early twentieth century, who was a cultural promoter, and rescued the festival of Santa Teresa and founded the folk group Nago, who perform Haitian rhythms and dances of that Caribbean nation.

The Women In Film International Committee, the Cuban Women Filmmakers Mediatheque, the Instituto Cubano del Arte e Industria Cinematograficos (ICAIC) and the American Cinematheque are taking on a huge, exciting new project-a Tri-State showcase of films by Cuban women.

In collaboration with a bevy of organizations including Women Make Movies, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, NewFilmmakers Los Angeles, New York Women In Film & Television are bringing an exciting slate of films (shorts, documentaries and features) directed by Cuban woman to Los Angeles, New York and Miami.

Late last year, classical ballet dancer Carlos Acosta once again made history while in Cuba, when he publicly stated exactly what he was thinking. Given his reputation as one of the greatest dancers in the world, Acosta could choose to make his home anywhere in the world. But his dreams take him back to Cuba, and he doesn´t claim this achievement only for himself.

Showing undeniable courage, Acosta made the most of his advantages and tore down one of the metaphorical walls that had stood for decades, to the detriment of art and artists.

Cuban musician and Latin jazz icon Bebo Valdés died in Stockholm in March at age 94, after battling with Alzheimers disease for several years.

There are hints of Sergio Leone in the revelatory work of namesake Sergio Giral, one of the greats of Afro-Cuban cinema, says Ashley Clark.

This year's International Book Fair opened in Havana yesterday, with an anticipated 1005 new titles going on sale to the public and foreign visitors. The fair is in Havana until 24 February then moves across the island until 10 March.

Through a new cataloging service available online, the materials accumulated by libraries in historic Old Havana are now publicly available, reports the Cuban news Agency (AIN).

The new online system allows Internet users to access the massive amounts of data available in 18 specialized libraries in the city, with this service now available at the website: http://catalogo.patrimonio.ohc.cu.

Havana D'Primera, led by trumpet player, songwriter and singer Alexander Abreu have created the soundtrack to Cuban life over the last five years. With songs like "Pasaporte" and "A Final de la Vida" (whose video is hotly tipped for a LUKAS award next year) Alexander Abreu documents what it is to be Cuban in the second decade of the 21st century.

"Feast …has five writers, who live in four continents, and a cast of 13. The story covers 300 years of Yoruba experience, taking in slavery, liberation, family and social politics. But Feast isn't a history lesson, says Norris, and if it's going to feel authentic to the Yoruba belief system – in which everything from a table to a sheet of plastic has its own spirit – "you can't just have a load of blah-blah on stage".

We have a pair of tickets to give away to go to the Havana D'Primera show at the Electric Brixton in London on 12 April 2013, courtesy of promotors ComoNo.

To enter the competition answer this question:

THERE are many book fairs around the world. However, the influence of new and multifaceted digital technologies is endangering the practice of holding a book in one's hands and reading ones way through it, particularly among young people.

Recently, a brief but important promotional spot has been circulated on the Internet in typical digital language, presenting books as an innovative item.

The 5th edition of the Brutal Fest Extreme Music Festival will start at the Maxim Rock theater, in Havana next February 14 and will take place up to the 24th in all Cuba. The itinerant festival, sponsored by the Brutal Beatdown Records and the Cuban Rock Agency, will have five foreign bands coming mainly from Europe that will share the stage with local bands.

David Chapet, founder of Brutal Beatdown Records and the festival, said that thanks to the success of the previous editions, the festival will take place twice a year starting this 2013. The first one will be in February, Brutal Winter Fest, and the second, Brutal Summer Fest, will be in August, while he added that each of them will have new groups to perform. David also declared that for the first time, there will be bands coming from Finland and Denmark at the time he highlighted the fact that the French band Worn-Out recorded 4 unknown songs in Spanish and English especially for this festival and the Cuban audience.

"I'm never bored, I carry my muse around with me," says Luis Enrique Camejo (b. Pinar del Rio, 1971). He's one of those artists who is always immersed in a whirlwind of thoughts that to invariably lead action. His ideas come from his own life, from art, film, literature… He is an observer. He can discover new concepts while talking, smoking, or taking a sip of coffee, conveying his thoughts in a meditative look, like a mystic trying to unravel the future.

Read the full interview In Conversation with Cuban artist Luis Camejo at http://www.cubanartnews.org/news/en/14-in-conversation-luis-enrique-camejo

If you are looking to buy some last minute Christmas gifts for friends and family – Cuba Solidarity shop has a wide range of Cuban cultural related gifts – Cuban music from salsa to jazz to country music to rumba, classic feature films on DVD including 'Memories of Underdevelopment', Strawberry & Chocolate', 'Death of a Bureaucrat' plus many books including the crime fiction books of Leonardo Padura and the poetry of Nicolas Guillen, and fabulous film posters, plus Cuban coffee and chocolate.

Two Cubans won today (7 December) the title of the World Youth Boxing Championship held in Yerevan, capital of Armenia, where a third boxer grabbed a bronze medal.