Cuba Trip: Part 10 - Varadero - May 1st, International Workers Day Parade
I remember the International Workers Day parades quite fondly. I used to participate in them while growing up in the Soviet Union.
Sure it was not fun to get up early because we had to gather at 7 am. But you got over the initial annoyance and sleepiness and while walking along the streets of your city (Ufa with population of over 1 million), you gradually got into a festive mood.
It was fun because you talked to people from your place of work or study, as well as people from other organizations. Everybody was holding colorful balloons and banners with slogans and had a sort of "We are all brothers and sisters" type of mood. By the end of parade one definitely felt happy to have had participated.
The May 1 st parade in Varadero was on much smaller scale since it's a small town but it still reminded me of the good times from my days growing up in the Soviet Union.
Our Casa Particular Hostal el Villareño was located on Calle 44, very close to where the parade took place. We walked 2 blocks to watch the parade which started around 9 am.
Che Guevara is still very popular
Lots of red color as well as banners and flags.
It was kind of nice to see the image of Lenin. It reminded me of my childhood, we grew up with Lenin portraits and statues around us.
It was nice to see so many smiling faces.
Some participants were dressed in costumes and a lot of infectious drumming and dancing was going on.
The parade ended by the Centro Park where tents with food and drinks were set up for a day and the party continued with live music and dancing.
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