Traditional meeting between the three towns practising La Tumba Francesa

From 11-12-2007   to   11-12-2007
 (Santiago de Cuba - Cuba) 

• © Unesco

The re-enactment of the meeting between the three towns practising La Tumba Francesa (Bejuco, Guantanamo and Santiago de Cuba) takes place on the coffee plantations of La Isabelica, a Cuban site inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. This traditional meeting is based on documentary records, oral sources/traditions and interviews with the communities’ elders.

La Tumba Francesa, which has been proclaimed a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity, was performed by the descendants of slaves, who came to work in Cuba on the French coffee plantations in the wake of the Haitian Revolution.

Photo caption: This postal stamp, devoted to La Tumba Francesa, Cuba’s first Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity, was issued for the 60^th anniversary of the Cuban National Commission for UNESCO, 17 November 1947.