The story
Carnaval de Guantanamo in Guantanamo
Guantanamo's carnival, tied to the August 16 feast of San Joaquin and documented back to a first troubadour comparsa led by Benito Odio in 1909, features floats with costumed young women, choreographic competitions between rival comparsas, congas and large popular-music orchestras performing simultaneously, in a province whose deeper musical identity includes changui, the root form of Cuban son.
Guantanamo's carnival date traces to the feast of San Joaquin on August 16, a patron-saint origin documented back to a first comparsa of troubadours in 1909, led by Benito Odio, establishing a tradition that local accounts describe as still maintained in some form today.