Cuba's energy crisis forces Cubadisco gala move to Pabellón Cuba
Havana’s blackouts pushed Cubadisco’s closing gala out of Covarrubias Hall, turning Cuba’s energy crisis into a direct blow to a flagship music celebration.
The closing gala of Cubadisco 2026 was pulled out of the National Theater’s Covarrubias Hall and moved to Pabellón Cuba after the electricity crisis in Havana made the festival’s final night impossible to keep in place. The change landed as more than a scheduling fix: with blackouts in parts of the capital lasting up to 22 hours a day, one of Cuba’s biggest music showcases had to adapt to the same power shortages that have been battering homes, streets, and now the cultural calendar.
The National Theater of Cuba said ticket holders could request a 100% refund at the theater box office between Tuesday, May 26, and Thursday, May 28, from 1:00 to 6:00 p.m. The revised closing event, set for Sunday, May 24 at 6:00 p.m. at Pabellón Cuba, featured a concert by Issac Delgado. The theater’s decision left Havana audiences with a stark reminder that even nationally promoted cultural events now have to contend with the electricity crisis in real time, not as an abstract backdrop.
Cubadisco 2026 was the festival’s 38th edition and ran in Havana from May 14 to May 24. Official programming placed its main stages at Pabellón Cuba and the Sala Covarrubias of the National Theater of Cuba, with 124 nominated works selected from more than 220 submissions. The calendar also included a symposium from May 19 to 21, underlining how large and layered the event had become before the final-night disruption forced organizers to reshuffle plans.
The 2026 edition was dedicated to the Cuban son, the genre UNESCO recognizes as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, giving the festival a clear cultural anchor at a time when national pride in music was meant to be on full display. Cuban media also said the edition honored the memory of Jorge Gómez, who died in Havana on March 23, 2026, at age 83. State media described Gómez as president of Cubadisco and longtime director of Grupo Moncada, a role that gives this year’s festival an added sense of loss and continuity.
For Cubans who follow music, the move from Covarrubias Hall to Pabellón Cuba said something bigger than a venue change. When a closing gala has to shift because the power cannot be counted on, the crisis has moved from the grid into the ritual itself.
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