Cuba celebrate cigars with festival

Updated 23.00 Sat Mar 03 2007
Keywords: festival, cigars, Cuba

Cuba celebrates one of its most famous exports with a festival, for cigars.

Fanatics from across the world pay thousands of US dollars to experience the world's finest cigars.

Festival goers visit cigar factories and plantations and do some all important networking with fellow fanatics

Each year elaborate humidors, or cigar cabinets, are auctioned off for good causes and one smoking fan has paid a record £183,000 for a humidor.

In the past the country's leader Fidel Castro would attend the festival and autograph some of the cigars but has been unable to attend for the last four years due to ill health.

Festival goers visit cigar factories and plantations and do some all important networking with fellow fanatics - over a finely crafted cigar of course.

Festival organiser Oscar Basulto said he was happy with how the celebrations had gone so far.

He said: "We think it went well as with anything else we could do better and will try to do so next year."

In the past royalty and celebrities have been guests at the festival.

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