Honduras is once again going to host a cigar festival.
Yesterday, President Nasry Asfura met with members of the Honduran cigar industry about a variety of topics. Following the meeting, his office announced that a new festival will be held in the country next year. A source told halfwheel that the festival will take place in the days before Puro Sabor, Nicaragua’s annual cigar festival. While many details, including the event’s name, are still being worked out, the current plan would see the festival take place Friday, Jan. 22, through Monday, Jan. 25.
Those dates were chosen to make it easier for guests to attend both the Honduran and Nicaraguan festivals. While Puro Sabor 2027 kicks off on Monday in Nicaragua’s capital, Managua, the plan from the Honduran side would be for attendees to cross the border on Tuesday, Jan. 26, and head straight to Estelí, the hub of Nicaragua’s cigar industry and the main host of Puro Sabor.
The festival is being organized by the Consejo de Artesanos del Tabaco de Honduras, the same group that had the meeting with Asfura. A press release is expected in the coming days.
Honduras is the only major cigar-producing country without an annual festival.
Cuba has long held the Festival del Habano, the Dominican Republic hosts Procigar and Nicaragua has the aforementioned Puro Sabor. More than a decade ago, Honduras played host to a festival called Humo Jaguar, though the event never became a regular thing. More recently, some have tried to combine Honduran coffee and cigars for an event, but it’s never risen to the level of the other cigar festivals. During those events, which typically attract guests from dozens of countries, attendees are taken on tours of tobacco farms and cigar factories, given unique access to company owners, and provided lots of cigars. These events are attended by a mixture of consumers and industry folks, though the consumers are oftentimes outnumbered by industry guests.
In addition, Asfura and the association discussed plans for a new school to train cigar rollers in Danlí, the home of Honduras’s cigar industry.
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Consejo de Artesanos del Tabaco de Honduras
Honduras
Nasry Asfura
