Did you know Mobile, AL is a sister city to Havana, Cuba? It's true! Come out to the first-ever Mobile Cuban Festival and learn more about Cuba, enjoy live music, food, and much more! May 5th, 2018, 10am to 5pm at the Mobile Museum of Art (MMofA).
Mobile, AL might not leap to mind when you think about the U.S. and Cuba - but maybe it should.
Mobile has been trading with Havana for over 315 years. Havana was Mobile’s biggest trading partner until the embargo. For many years, the two cities exchanged all manner of necessary goods: cotton, timber, paper, copper, salt, and more. Perhaps more surprising, Cuba’s love of baseball can be traced back to Mobile's
Spring Hill College.
150 years ago, two Cuban brothers returned to Havana after attending Mobile’s Spring Hill College and started Havana’s first baseball team. The rest, as I'm sure you know, is history.
The two cities even share a statue - that of French naval hero Pierre Le Moyne d’Iberville. d’Iberville founded Mobile as the capital of French Louisiana in 1702. Havana was a lifeline to the city in those days and LeMoyne died of yellow fever there, in 1706, while collecting supplies.
When the Soviet Union dissolved in the early 90's, Mobile was the first U.S. city to develop a Sister City link with the communist island. Mobile's nonprofit
Society Mobile-La Habana has been organizing trips, conferences, and more with Cuba since 1993. Today, Mobile ships tons of chicken to the island, making us one of the country's top export hubs to Cuba.
Now you can celebrate this unique and happy connection between our nations at the Mobile Museum of Art's first ever Mobile Cuban Festival. Come celebrate that which makes us similar, what brings us together, at this inaugural event.
The 2018 Mobile Cuban Festival will include a special guest lecturer, vintage cars, Salsa dance lessons, a food truck, and more!
MMofA's Common Ground Photography exhibition features photographs celebrating the two cities shared characteristics. You can also enjoy a screening of the 1999 documentary,
Buena Vista Social Club, featuring Ry Cooder, Ibrahim Ferrer and Ruben González.
