Habanos Festival 2022 Officially Canceled

The 23rd Habanos Festival is officially canceled, marking the second year in a row the event will not take place.

On Monday, Habanos S.A. posted an update to its website that the event, also known as the Festival del Habano, will not happen next month.

“Habanos S.A. has been working to celebrate the 23rd Habanos Festival scheduled for February 2022, but we are forced to cancel said celebration due to the new epidemiological situation of the coronavirus in the world,” the company wrote on its website.

The cancellation of the Festival seemed to be a foregone conclusion for many in the cigar industry, as the event was never formally announced and registration was never opened. Rumors of a cancellation began to surface online last November, though a representative from Habanos neither confirmed nor denied them when asked several times by halfwheel.

The event functions as a celebration of the Cuban cigar industry, with new products unveiled to distributors, retailers and fans. There are also cigar dinners, visits to factories and tobacco fields, seminars and a trade show. The Festival is also where the annual Habanosommelier competition is conducted, as well as an auction of elaborate humidors that brings in millions of dollars to help fund the Cuban healthcare system.

Habanos S.A. said that it is working to “surprise the Habanos enthusiasts in 2022,” though there was no indication what that might mean.

This is the second cigar festival to be canceled this year, as the Puro Sabor Festival in Nicaragua was canceled in October due to the effects of the pandemic. The Procigar Festival in the Dominican Republic is still scheduled to happen from Feb. 22-25.