Cuba’s International Jazz Festival: Jazz Plaza 2025

Havana gets ready for the 40th edition of its international jazz festival, Jazz Plaza 2025. The festival brings together over 356 artists from 20 countries, mainly the United States, Italy and Colombia. Over 800 local musicians, including symphony orchestras, chamber groups, rap and dance bands, will perform in over 300 concerts.

From January 29 to February 2, the Jazz Festival will take place in Havana, Santa Clara and Santiago de Cuba.

What’s on at Jazz Plaza 2025

Among the international guest stars are Ted Nash, Danielle Ponder, Orbert Davis, Jon Cleary, Jacky Terrasson, Renato Borghetti, Matthias Bublath, Wolf Kerschek, and Amina Figarova.

Jazz Plaza 2025 will see the return of Rolando Luna, performing with the National Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Joaquín Betancourt in a concert entitled “Super Danzones de Cuba y más”. The Abreu Brothers will also be present with their show “Dos miradas, Dos Caminos.”

This year’s festival celebrates the 65th anniversary of the Cuban Institute of Cinematographic Art and Industry (ICAIC). It is organized by the Ministry of Culture, the National Center of Popular Music (CNMP), and the Cuban Institute of Music (ICM).

Cuban jazz pianist Roberto “Bobby” Carcassés, founder of the festival, defined the objectives of the Jazz Plaza 2025 as “believing with love and bringing people together.”

The Jazz Plaza International Festival is the pillar of the Cuban cultural scene since its launch in 1980. It promises a program packed with national and international artists.

This year’s festival also celebrates the 20th anniversary of the International Colloquium “Leonardo Acosta in Memoriam,” which takes place over at the Fabrica de Arte Cubano.

Other events of the 2025 program include concerts by the Lopez-Nussa family, the Cuba Vive Gala by Nachito Herrera and guests, and the presentation of new albums by trumpeter Mayquel Gonzalez and pianist Dayramir Gonzalez.

It will also pay tribute to over 100 personas and institutions that have contributed to the development of jazz and culture in Cuba.

The festival will also feature the international music industry forum, known as Primera Línea, and the Leonardo Acosta in Memoriam colloquium, organized by Neris González Bello. The colloquium will offer an agenda of tributes, screenings, lectures and panels. Jazz Plaza will dedicate a space celebrating the 80th birthday of piano virtuoso Frank Fernández.

The children’s theater company La Colmenita will present “Ricitos Valdés y los Tres Ositos en el bosque de Irakere”, a tribute to the group that revolutionized Latin American jazz.

Jazz Plaza 2025 will pay tribute to ICAIC’s 65th anniversary with the screening of audiovisuals related to jazz at the 23rd and 12th, the Yara and Chaplin theaters. The Jazz Plaza 2025 festival will screen films such as Michelangelo Antonioni’s “The Passenger” and Jorge Luis Sánchez’s “El Benny,” among others.

This year’s poster features a painting by the artist Zaida del Río, winner of the 2023 National Plastic Arts prize. In addition, there will be exhibitions such as “In Jazz We Trust” by Lilien Trujillo, the group show “Retrospectiva” at the Fábrica de Arte Cubano, and “Jazz Journey” by Rick Swing at the National Theater.

Among the over 300 concerts programmed, highlights include the presentation of the Elipsis project, created by Pedrito Martínez, Michael League, Antonio Sánchez and Ahmed Alom. There is also a celebration of the 15th anniversary of Drums Havana, led by Rodney Barreto and Oliver Valdés.

In Havana, the venues are diverse. They include: the Karl Marx Theater, the National Theater, the Mella Theater, the Cuba Pavilion, the National Museum of Fine Arts, the Fabrica de Arte Cubano, the Plaza House of Culture and the Music Museum, among others.

Pianist Roberto Fonseca, artistic director of Jazz Plaza 2025, will close this edition with his “From Buena Vista Social Club. Herencia”.