Brutal Fest’s 2014 Cuba Festival

A festival that insisted on letting the world know that Cuban music is not only salsa and reggaeton, but also has a heavy metal tradition with enthusiastic fans.

Brutal Fest takes place twice a year is the most important international metal music festival in Cuba. It consists in a 10-day tour of Cuba with both Cuban and 6-7 international bands. Organized by the French Brutal Beatdown Record Label in association with the Agencia Cubana de Rock (Cuban Rock Agency) and the Instituto Cubano de la Música (Cuban Institute of Music), this year’s festival will include INSANITY (Switzerland), CARNAL DEMISE (Finland), DEAD COWBOY’S SLUTS (France) and NEID (Italy).

Fri, Aug 15: Holguín
Sat, Aug 16: Bayamo
Sun, Aug 17: Santiago de Cuba
Tue, Aug 19: Camagüey
Thu, Aug 21: Santa Clara
Fri, Aug 22: Habana
Sat, Aug 23: Habana
Sun, Aug 24: Pinar del Río

Fans will enjoy the most radical sounds of contemporary metal such as grindcore, death metal, hardcore and black metal. And like the name of the CD launched in 2008, this is Not Salsa, Just Brutal Music.

Since 2012, Tattoo’s Party runs parallel to Brutal Fest and is held at Maxim Rock in Havana, headquarters of the Cuban Rock Agency and Brutal Fest. This tattoo convention and contest is organized by Brutal Beatdown Recs, Toy Store Producciones and the Cuban Rock Agency and has been gaining in popularity ever since.

The event is organized by the French Brutal Beatdown Record Label with the collaboration of the Cuban Rock Agency and the Cuban Institute of Music. It is also sponsored by the Institute Français, the French Embassy in Cuba, Havana Club Internacional, Cuba Autrement and Los Portales.


  • III Harley Davidson Rally (Encuentro Harlista!)

    III Harley Davidson Rally (Encuentro Harlista!)  LH 5

    This past weekend, I was thrust into one of Cuba’s most prismatic and emblematic subcultures and scenes: I rode along on the country’s first Harley rally, when over 50 riders made their way to Varader …

    2012 Arte y Moda Fashion show: Extreme style

    2012 Arte y Moda Fashion show: Extreme style  LH 5

    Habaneros are a special lot. Guilty of multiple crimes of fashion and poor taste from the yonky to the most outrageous lycra outfits and ridiculously short skirts, they manage even in the midst of eco …

    VII Jornada Cubana contra la Homofobia (IDAHO)

    VII Jornada Cubana contra la Homofobia (IDAHO)  LH 5

    From May 5 to May 24, Cuba will celebrate the 7th Jornada Cubana contra la Homofobia in Havana, Granma and other locations in Cuba. The two-week event included symposiums, lectures, films, art exhibit …

    Highlights of the 2012 Havana Art Biennial

    Highlights of the 2012 Havana Art Biennial  LH 5

    The 11th Havana Biennial is already under way and for those of us who have attended its exhibitions, installations and performances so far, it is a time of evocation and strong emotions triggered by t …

    2014 Serie Nacional de Béisbol Play-offs

    2014 Serie Nacional de Béisbol Play-offs  LH 5

    Simplicity is the key word for baseball in Cuba, with no luxury boxes, huge electronic scoreboards or celebrity baseball players. As in many things in Cuba, there is no shortage of passion and this se …

    Marabana—The 2012 Havana Marathon

    Marabana—The 2012 Havana Marathon  LH 5

    Marabana is Havana’s annual marathon. Typically an exercise for me in making resolutions to get fit and participate in the race the next year, or a reminder that last’s year’s resolution is now forfei …

    Cubadisco: Cuba’s premier music awards show

    Cubadisco: Cuba’s premier music awards show  LH 5

    Nothing to do with discotheques, the International Cubadisco Fair begun in 1997 as a way to bring to national and international attention what the Cuban recording industry has been up to. It includes …

    1st Havana World Music Festival

    1st Havana World Music Festival  LH 5

    Organized by a nonprofit group led by young Cuban singer and composer Eme Alfonso, the 1st Havana World Music Festival (February 7-8, 2014) sought to open a window from Cuba onto the world and from th …

    The Marabana – Run Charlie run

    The Marabana – Run Charlie run  LH 5

    Race experience (Nov 2010) It is dark outside, 5.30am. Wishful thinking that I could simply sleep in and let the Havana marathon wait another year. I have, after all, been signed in various times over …

    64th Ernest Hemingway International Billfish Tournament

    64th Ernest Hemingway International Billfish Tournament  LH 5

    Like all the best fishing stories, mine began in a bar. One evening in Havana, I was introduced to a man called Stewart, an affable commercial manager in a London building firm. It turned out he was p …

    1 of 8 pages »