Habanos To Postpone Cigar Festival
The 2026 Habanos Festival, originally scheduled to begin on February 23, will not go on as planned. The Festival is being postponed. A new date is expected to be announced sometime in the future.
In an official statement, Habanos said: "The priority of the Habano Festival is to offer its participants a comprehensive experience at the height of the relevance and prestige that this event represents internationally. The postponement of its celebration is a measure aimed at protecting this experience and guaranteeing its excellence."
Rumors of a potential cancellation or postponement have been the talk of the Cuban cigar industry for the past few weeks as deteriorating conditions in Cuba have made global headlines. The struggles come in the wake of a protracted oil shortage and persistent blackouts on the island. Cuba’s predicament has been exacerbated by U.S. military action in Venezuela and a new executive order by U.S. President Donald Trump targeting the island nation.
The Cuban organizers of the Festival called out the actions of the U.S. government as a specific reason behind the postponement, saying it was "motivated by the complex economic situation facing the country as a result of the policy of intensifying the economic, commercial and financial blockade of the Government of the United States against Cuba”.
The marquis celebration for this Festival was to be the 60th anniversary of the Cohiba brand, arguably the world’s most famous cigar.
On Wednesday, the British government issued a warning against going to Cuba, advising against all but essential travel to the island. This week, several Canadian airlines ceased service to Cuba due to the lack of oil—the Cuban government told foreign carriers that it would no longer be able to provide aviation fuel to foreign airlines.
“Cuba is experiencing severe and worsening disruption to essential infrastructure, persistent nationwide power outages and fuel shortages. These conditions significantly affect the ability of visitors to access reliable transport, medical care, communications and basic services,” wrote the United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
“Authorities have introduced fuel rationing, scaled back public services and made temporary changes to healthcare, education, transport and tourism operations in order to conserve severely limited energy supplies. Flight schedules are also being disrupted due to aviation fuel shortages, with some airlines reviewing routes or temporarily cancelling services which risk visitors being unable to leave the country.”
This will not be the first February without the Festival: The 2021 and 2022 events were cancelled, to little surprise, as the world remained in the throes of the Covid pandemic. (The 2020 Habanos Festival took place right before lockdowns began.) The Festival returned, triumphantly, in 2023.
