Timbalaye Festival Internacional de la Rumba

First held in 2007 and reconstituted in 2015 as La Ruta de la Rumba, an itinerant format touring Havana, Artemisa, Matanzas, Cienfuegos and Villa Clara provinces each August 25 through 31, Timbalaye was founded by Ulises Ezequiel Mora Valina and Irma de la Caridad Castillo Ruiz of Rome's First School of Folklore and Cuban Popular Dances ACHE, combining dance classes, concerts, museum visits and seminars around rumba, UNESCO-recognized Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Timbalaye held its first edition in 2007, conceived and promoted by Ulises Ezequiel Mora Valina together with Irma de la Caridad Castillo Ruiz, both founders of the First School of Folklore and Cuban Popular Dances ACHE, based in Rome, giving this rumba festival an unusual founding link to Cuban folklore instruction organized from outside Cuba itself before returning to the island as a full festival.