The Varadero Josone Rumba, Jazz y Son Festival has now had five successful editions, after its 2025 edition closed almost at dawn this Monday.
More than 30 artists, groups and DJs made up the event’s lineup. Cuban music took center stage, tempered by the presence of artists from the United States, Spain and Colombia, whose presence offered an opportunity to enjoy and, in many cases, discover their art, but also to measure the quality standards between the national and international.
Josone took on several challenges this year: expanding to seven days of performances; giving greater presence to urban music, specifically to “reparto”; changing companies and, for the first time, being accompanied and supported by the National Center of Popular Music.
Furthermore, other obstacles always arise along the way of such a major event, from the small ones that only its production team (in the masterful hands of Four Wives) can handle and resolve, to the less manageable ones, such as the rain that wreaked havoc three times this week.
It was precisely the inclemency of the weather that created the most unforgettable night of the Festival. Last Friday, more than seven hours of rain made it seem like the planned activities wouldn’t be possible.
But the audience had the last word and, with no fear of the water, mud not being a problem, and with all the patience and discipline that is sometimes unthinkable, especially for such a young audience, more than 3,000 people made it possible for three of the five planned concerts to take place, providing the unforgettable experience of watching the sunrise amidst the euphoria of music.
“I thought the weather would affect everything, but it was quite the opposite. Everything was super special. I’m very happy with the opportunity to be in Josone for the second time and to have the love and support of an audience that waited until 5 a.m., and we saw the sunrise Josone. But we had a good time, and that’s what counts,” said Wampi, who closed the day’s performances, preceded by Formell y Los Van Van and Spanish singer Big Lois.
Beyond the musical excellence enjoyed on stage with the quality of the cast carefully chosen each year by Isaac Delgado and his team, the audience is the fundamental star of the Varadero Josone.
“What’s most significant is how the audience at this Festival connects with everything that happens on stage. There’s no thermometer or scale where you can say that this might be more appealing than that, because the audience has a knack for absorbing everything the stage offers. Even when we’re just starting out, there might not be enough people, but when you say the first ‘good night,’ they start appearing from all over, from all over the park, and suddenly there’s an atmosphere where the energy of two hundred people is equal to, but multiplied by, the energy of the three or four thousand people who fill the park,” says Edith Massola, the Festival’s artistic director, who, along with Marlon Pijuán and Barbaro Marín, took over the stage presentation each night this year.
For its closing, the Festival featured a lineup that explored many musical directions. Rumba by Muñequitos de Matanzas opened the evening, followed by Colombian salsa by the Manyoma Brothers, one of the pioneering groups in the development of the genre in that country, now in its second generation from a family dedicated to music.
The closing triad featured the voice, energy and power of rapper Telmary, the Cuban timba of Alexander Abreu and Havana D’Primera, and urban music with Charly and Johayron.
“The fusion with youth is the most important thing about this Festival, being able to give the opportunity to young people, who have earned it,” said Alexander Abreu in an exclusive for OnCuba an exclusive for OnCuba.
When we asked Johayron how he would define this event, he called it an “opportunity.”
“Not everyone has the best judgment or opinion about the urban genre, so I think our participation is super important. At the same time, being able to share with other genres allows us to gain audiences of other ages who enjoy timba and rumba, and who can listen to what we do here, and I think they might also enjoy it,” says the singer.
This idea is inversely proportional to the creators of other styles. Telmary, for example, told us that she loves “the mix of all the genres and the reach it has for such diverse audiences because it’s important for the new generation to listen to rumba, to listen to son, to not miss the essence of timba.”
In Cuba, where most musical events are dedicated to a specific genre or musical space, the Varadero Josone Festival has come to fill a void: bringing all styles of Cuban music together without creating discrimination, but rather understanding and showcasing what each has to offer, and what each contributes to the other.
The achievement, then, truly lies in offering a broad and complete image of Cuban music, which is much talked about, but which actually appears segmented in almost every setting.
Just reviewing the images circulating on social media throughout the week is enough to know that the audience is already waiting and preparing to participate in this Festival at all costs, as this year already proved.
We haven’t even woken up from everything we’ve experienced in 2025 in Josone and we’re already wondering about a new date with rumba, jazz, son and everything else that can bring us the extraordinary experience of bringing together summer, one of the best beaches in the world and the best music of this island
