This is the celebration of the people living in the Cuban countryside, where the farmers tunes sound with the conspiracy of typical instruments as the tres, the laúd, the güiro and the guitar.
These parties include dances as the zapateo and duos of singers who improvise the lyrics of a song causing the delight of the participants. The guateque campesino is the natural form in which a group of friends and neighbors meet to celebrate either the end of the harvest or a family commemoration.
It is common to see a singer improvising décimas as lyrics of a song, and couples dancing the zapateo, although the latter have been recently substituted by the son. This Cuban musical genre is also well known internationally in themes as “Píntate los labios María”, by Eliades Ochoa.
The classic invitation of the roasted pork in the grill, casabe with mojo, black beans and white rice, accompanied by the ever present beer and the rum. It could be also the saoco, consisting in a drink made of coconut milk and aguardiente that cheers the guateque until late night.
Justo Vega and Adolfo Alfonso made the controversies very famous in the national scene. At the end, a good guateque has for sure a touch of creole coffee to finish the dinner with music in the Cuban countryside.