Arts: Rock Music Festival in Havana Havana, (PL) Rock music, the most powerful musical movement of the last 50 years, will have its capital in the city of Havana, when 30 rock bands meet at a national rock festival from June 23 to 26. Havana Rock Festival Opens on June 23 June 21, 2005 In a press conference at the National Union of Artists and Writers of Cuba (UNEAC), Cuban veteran rock musicians Carlos Carnero, Ivan Farinas and Luis Manuel Molina, organizers of the event, agreed that "the event will be the seed for a rock event such as those in Rio de Janeiro, Glastonbury, or Esparrago." The Cuban musicians said they hope it will grow into a "mega-festival", just as those did in Brazil, the UK, and Spain respectively. "Cuban rock, almost unknown outside of the national borders, is the best in Latin America," said Carlos Carnero, former drummer of Cuban group "Los Kent" (The Kent), an emblematic rock group from Havana. Ivan Farinas, known as "The Grandfather of Cuban Rock", endorsed Carnero?s opinion, and said: "we have one of the best musical styles in the world, emanating from influences such as Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry and others, but done in our own way." The Havana Rock Festival will include a varied range of rock groups like Anima Mundi (symphony rock), Hipnosis (New Metal), Agonizer (Metal-Gothic), Wena Onda (pop-rock), guitarist Jorge Luis Chicoy (Jazz-Rock), and Chlover (Jazz-Metal) among others. The sponsor of the event is the Benny More Provincial Center for Music, and the venue will be the famous Salon Rosado (Pink Hall) in La Tropical, where renowned Cuban artists such as Benny More, Chapottin, Irakere, Los Van Van and Orquesta Aragon have also performed. The Havana Rock Festival has raised the expectations of rock musicians and fans, as rock has gained understanding and followers throughout the country. John Lennon?s statue, and performances in recent months of artists and groups such as British keyboardist Rick Wakeman, Manic Street Preachers (Ireland), and US group Audioslave in Cuba, are exponents of that "new approach" of Cuban audiences to rock music and rock musicians.

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- Rock Music Festival in Havana