Festival International Cubano

The Festival International Cubano has run in Orange, in Provence, long enough to have its own regulars. Each edition mixes new teachers with figures who have become part of the festival's identity, which is a different feel from a line-up assembled fresh each year. It takes place at the Espace Daudet over four days. What distinguishes it from a resort festival is that it uses the town: the warm-up parties happen around the centre of Orange rather than in a function room downstairs, and live concerts sit inside the programme rather than being bolted onto it. The organisers describe it as one hundred percent salsa and Afro-Cuban culture, and the emphasis on culture rather than dance alone is deliberate.