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Carnival, Feast Days, and House Parties: Cuban Celebrations in Louisiana after 1960 By Tomás Montoya González with contributions by T. Ariana Hall Translations by Lori N. Tyler and T. Ariana Hall Also See - Music and Dance in South Louisiana's Cuban Community Acculturation to Life in Louisiana Domestic Festivities And Parties A Lo Cubano Several domestic family celebrations are important, including quinceañeras, birthday parties, and informal gatherings. Quinceañeras, the celebration of a girl's coming of age at 15 years old, is still strong to date in Cuba. Years ago, quinceañeras consisted of dancing waltzes. But in Cuba of the 1970s, it became fashionable to do popular dances such as Casino, which is similar to Salsa. Now in Louisiana, the parties incorporate U.S. music and dances that are popular amongst young people. Bethsy Pizarro mentioned that in the 1960s and 1970s, before becoming ordained, Cuban priest Father Pedro Nuñez organized quinceañera dances in the South Louisiana Cuban community. Now quinceañera's incorporate current popular music like reggaetón, pop, and hip hop. Dina Buchillón, who came to the U.S. in 1980, says, "There is a social club formed mostly by members of the group of the 1960s. I am a member of that club, too. It is a very traditional club. We celebrate things like Cuban Independence Day and Mother's Day in Lafreniere Park." Many of those who arrived in the 1960s explained that now they only see each other at wakes or an occasional birthday party. Some Cubans in the Baton Rouge area agreed that opportunities to interact as a community are rare, except for some events held at St. George Catholic Church. This is, in part, due to Cubans being a much smaller portion of the Baton Rouge community. Children's birthday parties in Cuba also include components specifically for the adults. Sometimes the party may even seem to really be a party for the grown-ups. And adult parties may seem more geared towards the children. In other words, house parties organically bring together the entire family, usually with an uproar of music, passionate conversations, dancing, traditional food, and a variety of drinks. Birthday parties feature live Cuban music, food, and dancing, underlining the basic fun-loving nature of Cuban culture.
Cuban immigrants have also embraced the American celebration of baby showers, a party for the expectant mother before the baby's arrival. In Cuba the tradition is different, with a party for the mother after the birth of the newborn. A special drink called aliña'o is shared among everyone at the party. According to Noel González, aliña'o is "a fruit cocktail that has been aged for nine months. Once the family knows the due date, they put alcohol in a large crystal carafe and every week they add seasonal fruit, sugar cane, grapes, whatever they can find. Bethsy Pizarro adds "…[in Cuba,] we don't have baby showers. But we did celebrate bachelor's parties (in Cuba)." She also confirms that in Cuba there were bachelorette parties as well. Cubans in New Orleans also gather informally for games, house parties, and at barrooms. Newer immigrants maintain a passion for playing dominoes, gathering at each other's homes. These gatherings around the dining table usually incorporate music and alcohol and can overcome radical differences amongst the players, while they debate current events, and joke about all that is sacred and conventional. Traditionally, dominoes have been a male-dominated game, but over time it has become open to female players. With or without dominoes, house parties are important sources of contact between Cubans. Yenima Rojas says, In the past, another type of informal gathering was common. Peleas de gallos (cock fights) were popular in Cuba before 1959 and later prohibited during the revolutionary period. However, the Cubans that immigrated in the 1960s continued this male-dominated practice until the 1980s. Cubans from all the generations also gather in bars for drinks and conversation and in Latin night clubs to dance to Cuban music and at the ever-decreasing Latin festivals, as well as the occasional Cuban music concert. These public gatherings were, and are still today, some of the most common ways that Cubans come together. Teté's Bar is situated on St. Claude Avenue in New Orleans. This once-bustling neighborhood was home to a small but dynamic Cuban community in the 1980s, including small business owners small-business owners like Leobel Granado, the owner of Teté's. The Cubans who lived in the neighborhood at that time were mostly Marielitos who immigrated in 1980. Bars like Teté's played an important role in maintaining contact between the members of this community, but as time went on, many things changed. According to the owner, few Cubans pass through Teté's anymore because many of the neighborhood regulars did not return to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. However, new places and events are appearing, such as the concerts and parties organized by the CubaNOLA Arts Collective, an institution that explores the cultural connections between Cuba and New Orleans, Louisiana. Some bars in Kenner, Metairie, and New Orleans offer a consistent variety of Latin and Cuban music where more and more (usually younger) Cubans go out.
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