![\"CubaNostalgia\u2019s](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/MIA_105CubaNostalgia18NEWPPP.JPG\" "\\"CubaNostalgia\u2019s")
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CubaNostalgia\u2019s musical lineup grows every year, and this time\u2014on May 16 and 17\u2014the concerts feature figures such as Willy Chirino, Malena and Lena Burke, Ronkalunga, Brenda Navarrete, Aym\u00e9e Nuviola, and Amaury Guti\u00e9rrez.<\/p>\n
Pedro Portal<\/p>\n
pportal@miamiherald.com<\/p>\n
With the demographic shift of the Cuban exile community, the here and now outweighs the past in the 27th edition of CubaNostalgia<\/a>.<\/p>\n Rumba, mojitos, chicharrones de cerdo and music are taking increasingly prominent roles. The list of artists who will perform May 16 and 17 at the Fairgrounds on Coral Way and 109th Avenue includes Willy Chirino, Lena and Malena Burke, Aym\u00e9e Nuviola, Brenda Navarrete, Ronkalunga, El Ni\u00f1o y la Verdad, Amaury Guti\u00e9rrez and El Gallito del Son.<\/p>\n \u201cThings have evolved. Now we have more entertainment options to attract the grandfather, so he brings his son and grandson,\u201d said Peter Regalado, executive director of CubaNostalgia.<\/p>\n Regalado arrived in the United States at age six and remembers little of Cuba, except for the trips he often took from Havana to Pinar del R\u00edo in his father\u2019s 1957 Chevrolet\u2014\u201cblue with a white stripe\u201d\u2014to visit his mother\u2019s family in Cuba\u2019s westernmost province.<\/p>\n His goal with CubaNostalgia is to preserve the designs of those buildings on large canvases that lead visitors on a stroll through Havana. \u201cWe took the two blocks of the Paseo del Prado with fewer trees and reproduced them exactly,\u201d Regalado said. That\u2019s where the art galleries and vendors selling Cuban memorabilia are located in CubaNostalgia.<\/p>\n Near those architectural replicas are the caf\u00e9s and food trailers, which serve thousands of croquetas, pastelitos, fried cod fritters, pork sandwiches, complete plates of congr\u00ed, fried yuca and pork pastries. Large quantities of chicharrones from Mr. Pork Belly \u2014 a restaurant owned by Regalado located on 41st Street and 92nd Avenue in Doral \u2014 will also be available.<\/p>\n Regalado reveals the secret of these chicharrones. \u201cIt\u2019s a Brazilian-style chicharr\u00f3n that has very soft skin, it\u2019s not so fatty, and they chop it into small pieces before frying it. You can eat it with lipstick on,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n El Gallito del Son at La Bodeguita<\/p>\n La Bodeguita del Medio at CubaNostalgia has something the original on Empedrado Street in Old Havana no longer has: writing on the walls. And constant music… CubaNostalgia opens at 11 a.m., and by noon Jorge Alberto El Gallito del Son is already performing classics like \u201cSon de la Loma\u201d by the Matamoros brothers, which always draws dancers.<\/p>\n The audience loves El Gallito\u2019s improvisations, which he can do for hours, taking inspiration from the people in the crowd \u2014 a woman in a red blouse or a dancer wearing a hat.<\/p>\n \u201c Sometimes I go three hours without stopping. I talk to people about their towns, and they get emotional and cry,\u201d says El Gallito.<\/p>\n He learned the art of improvising verses in the Cuban countryside, in Taguasco and other towns in the province of Sancti Sp\u00edritus, when he was eight years old. The guajiros organized parrandas where they would show up unannounced at houses and the party would begin right there. \u201cThey\u2019d slaughter a pig or whatever was available,\u201d recalls El Gallito del Son.<\/p>\n His career led him to collaborate in Cuba with C\u00e1ndido Fabr\u00e9 and La Original de Manzanillo, Compay Segundo and Polo Monta\u00f1ez, and in Miami, since 2003, with Israel L\u00f3pez \u201cCachao\u201d and Israel Kantor, who became his mentor and gave him the name El Gallito del Son. He also sang in the parrandas of Ponce, Puerto Rico, with Papo Lucca and La Sonora Ponce\u00f1a.<\/p>\n \u201cGuajiro poets think, but I don\u2019t think. It\u2019s in the moment,\u201d says El Gallito del Son, describing the way he improvises. \u201cIt\u2019s as if God removed me from my body and I only heard the piano, and when I finish improvising, it\u2019s as if God returned me to my body.\u201d<\/p>\n El Gallito del Son will also premiere three songs at CubaNostalgia composed for him by maestro Jorge Luis Piloto, author of \u201cQue le den candela,\u201d popularized by Celia Cruz, and \u201cYo no s\u00e9 ma\u00f1ana,\u201d sung by Luis Enrique.<\/p>\n Concerts, mass and films<\/p>\n The Tropicana cabaret opened in 1939 in the Marianao neighborhood of Havana and is known as \u201ca paradise under the stars.\u201d Its replica at CubaNostalgia is very popular because this space, with 2,000 seats, hosts the event\u2019s main concerts. On Saturday at 2 p.m. Brenda Navarrete begins with a show, followed by Lena Burke; Ronkalunga<\/a>; and closing with Willy Chirino starting at 10:30 p.m., with a set that sometimes runs past midnight<\/a>.<\/p>\n On Sunday at noon Father Jos\u00e9 Espino, rector of the Ermita de la Caridad, celebrates mass in front of the replica of the Cathedral of Havana, and after 1 p.m. the concert schedule resumes with Malena Burke, who always dedicates a song to the Virgin. The musical lineup continues with El Ni\u00f1o y la Verdad; Amaury Guti\u00e9rrez; and Aym\u00e9e Nuviola.<\/p>\n This is a special year for Amaury Guti\u00e9rrez because he hadn\u2019t participated in CubaNostalgia for some time. \u201cThis event is a mosaic of Cuban culture, its music, its cuisine,\u201d said the singer of \u201cYo s\u00e9 que es mentira\u201d and \u201cDime coraz\u00f3n.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m always composing and there are songs that I debut live before recording them,\u201d said Guti\u00e9rrez, who is preparing new material to record with his label, J&N Records, the independent label of Juan Hidalgo and Nelson Est\u00e9vez.<\/p>\n For those who want a break from the music, the Payret cinema will screen a documentary about Willy Chirino and episodes of \u201cLa Tremenda Corte,\u201d featuring the humor of Tres Patines, Don Gumersindo and Nananina. A replica of the Domino Park<\/a> in Little Havana will also be open.<\/p>\n For shopping there is a replica of Galiano\u2019s Ten Cent, the old Woolworths, which in this case doesn\u2019t just sell Cuban items but has anything else you can imagine, from costume jewelry to knickknacks\u2014more flea-market than boutique.<\/p>\n On the way out, after the mojitos, daiquiris, croquetas and tamales, don\u2019t forget to stop by the classic car area to see the great warriors of Cuba which still roam the island as proof of the triumph of the U.S. automotive industry and of the wealth Cubans had in the 1940s and 1950s when they could buy them fresh off the factory line.<\/p>\n If you go:<\/p>\n What: CubaNostalgia,<\/p>\n When: May 16 and 17, starting at 11 a.m.<\/p>\n Where: Miami-Dade County Fair & Exposition, Coral Way and 109th Ave., Miami<\/p>\n Cost: Tickets, $25, include concerts.<\/p>\n www.cubanostalgia.com\/tickets.html<\/p>\n Lena Burke, Amaury Guti\u00e9rrez, and his wife, Liliana P\u00e9rez, at the press conference to announce the CubaNostalgia 2026 events at the Versailles restaurant. Emilio de Armas <\/p>\n
![\"Estrella](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/MIA_109CubaNostalgia18NEWPPP.JPG\" "\\"MIA_109CubaNostalgia18NEWPPP.JPG\\"")
Estrella Solis, Edith Acosta and Alicia Maya, posed in front of a replica of Havana\u2019s \u201cEl Malecon\u201d, during the 25th CubaNostalgia, a celebration of the Cuban Culture and Heritage through exhibits, memorabilia, art and music, at the Fair Expo Center, taking place May 18 and 19th, in Miami, on Saturday May 18, 2024. Pedro Portal pportal@miamiherald.com <\/p>\n Jorge Alberto, \u201cEl Gallito del Son,\u201d takes the stage at La Bodeguita del Medio within CubaNostalgia on May 16 and 17. As his primary artistic craft is *repentismo*\u2014improvised verse\u2014he awaits the audience there to dedicate personalized stanzas to them. The program also features *son* music by the Matamoros, as well as a song dedicated to Cuba, \u201cPatria y Libertad,\u201d which he recorded with Lucy Grau and Carlos Oliva. Baron DaParre <\/p>\n
![\"Cuban](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/b8e317f0-2c50-4cf8-8922-6f727e936faa.JPG\" "\\"b8e317f0-2c50-4cf8-8922-6f727e936faa.JPG\\"")
Cuban artist Brenda Navarrete with Peter Regalado, Executive Director of CubaNostalgia. Alfredo de Armas <\/p>\n