Every beginning of February our city experiences a special day, as the village celebrates the anniversary of its foundation, this time its 507th birthday.
For these celebrations we always decked ourselves with a very attractive plan of activities where dissimilar bodies, institutions, organizations, and the people in general converge, because it becomes a festival of the people, of the community, these activities reaching even the most distant neighborhoods with the purpose that we all feel immersed in these festivities.
This time the celebration is different, for reasons that all Cubans know well. COVID-19 will not allow us to see each other face to face in concerts, contests, exhibitions and many other activities that are usually held on those days, which does not imply in any way that they are not done. The creativity of artists, officials, technicians, promoters and so many others, has been put in place so that each event, even internationally, can be carried out virtually, a modality that, although it does not replace the intense emotion of everyday life, does resolve and, of course, it somewhat fills the void of the usual.
The program that the Office of the Historian of the city has prepared for this festival, this time is also varied and although we will not be able to carry out the usual and now traditional pilgrimage from Agramonte Park, in memory of the historian of the city Gustavo Adolfo Sed Snow , to the general cemetery, to also pay tribute to workers of said institution who dedicated their lives to research, conservation and development of projects; with the presence of relatives, friends and personalities of the culture. Yes, we will continue to remember, respect and acknowledge their presence and legacy in many corners of our town, because with their work they have been perpetuated forever in the history of the province.
That is why I invite you to virtually make this tour, through this great city, through this “open-air museum”, the last resting place of such valuable companions, and let us bring a flower and a beautiful thought to each one of them. Let us revere their work that will be remembered forever by these and future generations. Committed to continue their legacy so that every day we can feel more proud of living in a city that part of its Historic Center holds the status of Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
Next year, when this horrible nightmare that we are going through, be just that, a bad dream; we will return, but live, walking as always, through the entire Cristo Street, in silence and perhaps accompanied by the Provincial Concert Band, as so many times, we will reverence those who will be always remembered as the “essentials.”
Translated by: Aileen Álvarez García
