Cuban carnival

The first African drums were heard in Cuba, since the 16th century, only during the celebration of certain feasts, such as the Día de Reyes (Three Kings Day) and Carnestolendas or Carnival, because their use was restricted to some mutual aid societies, called "Cabildos de nación", where enslaved Africans and their descendants were allowed to gather and practice their cultural and religious traditions such as Santeria and Palo Mayombe.

The music and dance of the Cuban Carnival was always very popular in Cuba, and has exerted an important influence in other genres of the Cuban music, such as the "Conga de Salón" and the "Mozambique" rhythm. the Cuban Conga has transcended the national frontiers to become one of the most famous and cherished genres of the Cuban music outside the country, like the well known Congas de Salón from the late 1930s and early 1940s Bim Bam Bum, from Rafael Hernández and Uno, dos y tres, from Rafael Ortiz, which at a later time was known in English as: One, two, three, Kick! Most recently, in 1985, the famous "Conga" from the Cuban-American group Miami Sound Machine, triggered a true frenzy in the US and all around the world. Its success is only comparable to the popularity of the 1930s Conga de Salón or the Conga lines of Desi Arnaz during the 1950s.

From the 16th to the 18th century

The cultural and physical mixing of Africans and Europeans in Cuba began with the arrival to the Island of the first enslaved African women around 1550 but their cultures remained relatively independent one from the other for hundreds of years, because the enslaved did not have access to their enslavers' cultural traditions, and the Spanish people perceived the African culture as barbaric and primitive. The following description of enslaved peoples feast, included in a story from the "costumbrista" writer Francisco Baralt, evidence the negative image that the Spanish had toward the cultural manifestations of the Africans.

According to Baralt: "those (African) dances have such a weird aspect, because of the place, the time and the individuals that perform them, that even those who observe them every day receive an impression difficult to express: we don’t know if it is curiosity or disgust, if it repels or attract its primitive and savage character, that seem to put between this feasts and those of the white men the same distance that exists between the deluge and our times."

The music from the African people that arrived to Cuba from Spain, or directly from Africa, was only allowed since the beginning of colonial times, within certain mutual aid societies and religious fraternities which foundation dates from the 16th century. According to David H. Brown, those societies, called Cabildos, "provided aid in case of disease or death, celebrated masses for the souls of the death, collected funds for the liberation from slavery of its members, regularly organized dances and recreational activities during Sundays and Holidays, and sponsored masses, processions and Carnival dances (now called "comparsas") around the annual cycle of Catholic festivals"

The Cabildos organized big street processions during Sundays, the celebration of Saints and some important Holidays, where their leaders and companions dressed with clothes appropriate for the royalty and high rank military, while those who participated in the processions and dances wear "feathered head pieces and African masks with horns and vegetal ornaments." The Three Kings Day, celebrated on January 6, during the Epiphany, was the most important of those festivities.

Another important feast where the Cabildos participated was celebrated during the three days before "Ash Wednesday", which at a later time became the Carnestolendas or Carnival.