Celia Cruz to be honored at largest Cuban festival in U.S.
Sandra Castro may be a Colombian-American with a successful pet-sitting business, but she also spends half the year preparing for one of the biggest festivals in the country, which she helped to found. Now in its third year, the Festival Cubano in Chicago is the largest Cuban festival in America, and is now catching up with the popular alternative music festival, Lalapalooza. They will both take place in the windy city next weekend, August 4th and 5th. This year, the festival will definitely have a lot of “azucar!
This year, in addition to having another star-studded lineup, including Isaac Delgado, Jose Alberto “El Canario,” Celia Cruz All Stars, and Tito Puente, Jr., the Festival Cubano is collaborating with The Celia Cruz Foundation to showcase memorabilia of the late salsa star.
“Being that she frequented Chicago many times, I think it’s important to have her presence there,” says Omer Pardillo, founder of The Celia Cruz Foundation. “I’m very proud to be her ex-manager and keep her legacy alive.”
Today, Pardillo hosts a weekly radio show “Azucar!, Celebrating the legacy of Celia Cruz”, on Sirius XM and represents the estate of Celia Cruz. He says he will be bringing with him some of Cruz’s items to the Festival, including original photographs, records, and probably a pair of shoes, among other things from his private collection.
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