5th Annual Festival Cubano Announces Headliners
By Bill Tilford

At a Press conference at 90 Miles Restaurant in Chicago on Wednesday, June 18, the headliners for the 5th annual Festival Cubano, which will take place August 15-17 at Riis Park, were announced. These include Fajardo Jr., who will be doing a tribute to his father, Cuban flute legend Jose Fajardo; Cuban-American salsero Rey Ruiz, Salsa Romantica artist Eddie Santiago, Puerto Rico's El Gran Combo, Miami's Afro-cuban Funk monsters Palo! and Alex Bía, an emerging Cuban-American artist from New York.  Alex tells us that he will be bringing a Salsa/Timba set to the festival.   Several other acts including Chicago's Sureya will be appearing during the weekend. 

Some interesting notes about a few of the entertainers:
Palo!  was recently featured in the PBS documentary Miami Boheme,  and lead singer Leslie Cartaya was nominated for a Latin GRAMMY (best new artist).   It isn't the most famous name in the lineup (yet), but this writer considers it to be the likely highlight of the Festival.  If you can only do one day, do the one when they are performing. 
Alex Bia is also worth very much catching - his debut recording Renacer included a song featuring Tirso Duarte, and locally, he has been getting some serious radio play on Sabados de Fiesta. 
Although it is from Puerto Rico, El Gran Combo does have a Cuban connection - Cuban producer Rafael Alvarez Guedes, co-founder (with his brother Guillermo) of the GEMA label, can rightfully be considered the Godfather of the group, having first hired the original seven musicians for a special project and naming the group. Over the years, its book has included a lot of Cuban songs. 
Rey Ruiz was born in La Habana and began his professional career singing with Orquesta Riverside.   After coming to the US, he became a Salsa star here in the 1990s. 

Festival Cubano founder George Herrera also announced that there will be a tribute to the legendary Juan Formell during the festival; details will be announced in the future.  

It was also announced that the Festival will have expanded parking options, more food vendors, some special dance and instrumental workshops, and some cooking demonstrations and cook-offs. (IF that includes ropa vieja, this writer will put in a bid for a judge's position, if it's quimbombo, perhaps not.) 

Festival Cubano's website is http://thecubanfestival.com/  Two things are certain:
1.Before it's all over, somebody will find something to complain about at a length that rivals Russian novels.  This has practically become part of the FC tradition, and now that it is adding other contests, the Festival should consider a formal competition here as well.  
2.Overall, it will be well worth going to anyway.