The National Ballet of Cuba (BNC) announced on Sunday that the Alicia Alonso Havana International Ballet Festival will not take place in 2026 due to the ongoing challenges facing the country, according to a statement sent to the EFE agency.
Instead, the company is hosting a series of performances at the National Theater of Havana from Tuesday, October 20, through October 28.
Established in 1960 through the initiative of Alicia Alonso, the festival is one of the oldest and most esteemed non-competitive biennial events of its kind worldwide. The cancellation in 2026 marks the second disruption of the festival's cycle since its inception—the first being due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020—but it is the first directly linked to the regime's economic and energy crisis.
The BNC has expressed its intention to "compensate" for the absence of the festival with these performances, implicitly acknowledging the profound collapse the island is experiencing.
The substitute program kicks off this Tuesday with a gala commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Ministry of Culture, featuring excerpts from Don Quixote, Danza Contemporánea de Cuba's Katharsis Morphé, and segments from the Yoruba Cycle by the National Folkloric Ensemble.
On October 24 and 25, in honor of the United Nations' 81st anniversary, the BNC will present Giselle as staged by the legendary Alicia Alonso (1920-2019). The final performance, on October 28, coincides with the 78th anniversary of the first performance by the then Ballet Alicia Alonso in 1948, showcasing The Magic of Dance and the epilogue of Gottschalk Symphony.
The festival's cancellation is not an isolated incident but rather the latest in a series of cultural breakdowns in 2026. In May, the Havana Ballet Grand Prix was called off due to the electrical crisis and damages at its venue, with the next edition postponed to July 2027. The organizing committee admitted at the time that the electrical situation prevented them from "ensuring the technical and comfort conditions necessary for the optimal development of an event of this category and international prestige."
In June, two planned performances of Giselle at the National Theater were canceled due to an air conditioning system failure.
These events unfold against the backdrop of an unprecedented energy crisis: the National Electrical System has faced eight total outages so far in 2026. On October 16, just two days before the BNC's announcement, a fire at the Ernesto Guevara de la Serna thermoelectric plant in Mayabeque resulted in a 75.5% national demand impact during peak hours, the highest level since Cuba began publishing comparable statistics in 2022. On Monday, the Electric Union forecasted a deficit of 1,990 MW.
The irony is hard to overlook: the BNC recently concluded a successful tour in Russia from late September to early October, performing Giselle at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, the New Stage of the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, and two other theaters, as part of a bilateral cultural cooperation agreement with Moscow. While the company can perform on Russia's grand stages, it cannot ensure the minimum conditions necessary for its own festival in Havana.
This paradox is compounded by the internal decline of the institution. The BNC's roster dropped from over 100 dancers to about 55 in September 2025 due to the ongoing exodus of artists. Dancer and choreographer Carlos Acosta bluntly described the situation in July 2024: "There is a tremendous exodus of Cuban artists."
The Impact of Cuba's Crisis on Cultural Events
What led to the cancellation of the Havana International Ballet Festival in 2026?
The festival was canceled due to the economic and energy crisis impacting Cuba, which has made it difficult to host events of this scale.
How is the National Ballet of Cuba compensating for the festival's cancellation?
The National Ballet of Cuba is organizing a series of performances at the National Theater of Havana to make up for the absence of the festival.
What other cultural events have been affected by Cuba's crisis in 2026?
In addition to the ballet festival, the Havana Ballet Grand Prix was suspended, and some performances were canceled due to infrastructure and energy issues.