Procigar Adds Punta Cana Leg for 2016

Next year’s Procigar festival will be a bit different.

The ninth rendition of the Dominican Republic’s annual cigar festival will head 40 miles east to Punta Cana in place of its normal opening days at La Romana’s Casa de Campo. Normally, an optional first leg has begun at the famous resort on the country’s southern coast that sits just a few minutes away from Altadis’ Tabacalera de García factory, the largest cigar factory in the world despite its relative seclusion from almost every other factory in the country.

While attendees will still visit Tabacalera de García on the optional opening leg, they will be staying at the Westin Punta Cana, which is located on the country’s eastern tip. That means the first part of the festival will begin Sunday, Feb. 21, with the Santiago leg beginning on Tuesday, Feb. 23 and the festival closing Friday, Feb. 26.

The majority of attendees arrive for the Santiago portion, which is far more cigar intensive as they can attend as many as three cigar factories in a day. Santiago is also where the festival’s famous parties take place, including the white party and closing gala and auction, which raised $100,000 last year.

A change in venue means a slight change in the itinerary for those heading to Punta Cana. A tentative schedule still lists golf, but includes a visit to Hoyo Azul, a tour centered around a cenote, a geological formation that contains a unique groundwater ecosystem.

Pricing remains the same, $895 for the Santiago-based events plus airfare and hotel.

Procigar is also the name of the Dominican cigar manufacturers organization. Its members include: De Los Reyes, General Cigar Dominicana S.A.S., La Aurora S.A., Manufactura de Tabacos S.A. (Quesada), Tabacalera de García, Tabacalera Fuente, Tabacalera La Alianza (E.P. Carrillo), Tabacalera La Flor Dominicana, Tabacos Quisqueyanos S.A. (Juan Clemente) and Tabadom Holding, Inc. (Davidoff).