As the country faces blackouts of up to 24 hours and record electrical deficits, the government of Havana is preparing a special schedule for the Spring Festival Pa'Cuba to celebrate the so-called Victory Week, from April 13 to 19, at the Cuba Pavilion in the capital.
The official portal Cubadebate reported this Friday that the festival, organized by Conex, the events company of the Palco Business Group, will open every day that week with extended hours, from Sunday, April 12 to Saturday, April 18, from 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., and on Sunday, April 19, from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
The offer includes shows, play areas, interactive activities, dining options, and shopping at Pabellón Cuba, located on 23rd Street between M and N in Havana's Vedado neighborhood.
The organizers themselves acknowledged the implicit contradiction in a revealing phrase, stating that the festival "is taking place this edition at the Pabellón Cuba, the national headquarters of the Asociación Hermanos Saíz, adapting to the current energy conditions."
That adaptation is not a minor detail. The event was moved from its usual venue at Pabexpo, which relies on artificial lighting and air conditioning, to Pabellón Cuba, which features open areas and makes better use of natural light and ventilation.
While the regime prepares for the celebration, the National Electric System recorded this Friday generation deficits exceeding 1,800 MW during peak hours, with an availability of only 1,200 MW against a demand of over 3,000 MW.
This Thursday, a new Automatic Frequency Discharge left municipalities in Havana such as Playa, Regla, Cerro, and Centro Habana without service, neighborhoods that in recent days have witnessed cacerolazos and protests over outages lasting more than 15 and even 24 hours daily.
The Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant, the largest in the country located in Matanzas, has been out of service for several days due to a boiler malfunction, exacerbating an energy collapse that has caused at least three total system blackouts this year, the most severe of which occurred on March 16, lasting over 29 hours.
This episode follows a pattern that has become commonplace in 2026, with the government organizing festivals and cultural events while the population endures prolonged blackouts.
In March, the spring edition of the Pa'Cuba festival had already been inaugurated amid protests and power outages in neighborhoods near the Pabellón Cuba.
At the beginning of April, the Piña Colada Festival took place in Ciego de Ávila amidst daily power outages of up to 21 hours in the province, and the singer Israel Rojas justified his participation with the phrase "culture also saves."
Victory Week commemorates the defeat of the Playa Girón invasion on April 19, 1961, and the regime uses it annually as a platform for patriotic propaganda under the slogan "April of Victories."
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