A female worker operates a machine during the rolling process at a mechanized cigar factory in Havana, May 8, 2025.
Adalberto Roque AFP | Getty Images
The annual five-day cigar festival in late February in Cuba’s capital, Havana, has been canceled until further notice due to the worsening economic crisis.
The postponement comes as the island nation’s communist-run government endures its biggest challenge since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Cigar trade fair organizer Habanos SA announced on Saturday that it had canceled the festival “with the aim of maintaining the highest standards of quality, excellence and experience that are the hallmarks of this international event.”
Organizing committees said they were working on setting a new date for the fair, but did not provide further details.
To date, the festival has attracted more than 1,000 guests from around 80 countries, who have participated in auctions and toured tobacco farms.
Premium Cuban cigars are world-renowned and considered to be of great economic importance, making them one of the island’s main exports and a major source of foreign exchange. But a decades-long trade embargo has made them illegal in the United States.
Last year it was Habanos. SA, the state-owned company that dominates global sales of Cuban cigars, reported record sales of $827 million in 2024, an increase of 16% from the previous year.
A pedicab rides through the streets of Havana, Cuba, on February 13, 2026. The fuel crisis in Cuba, and Havana in particular, has forced many workers who rely on their daily transportation to abandon gasoline-powered cars and turn to electric tricycles and bicycle taxis as more accessible alternatives.
Yamil Raji | AFP | Getty Images
Cuba is currently facing a severe fuel shortage due to the US oil blockade.
The Trump administration has effectively cut off Cuba from Venezuelan oil since it launched a military operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on January 3.
US President Donald Trump later called his government an “unusual and extraordinary threat” and vowed to impose tariffs on countries that supply his country with oil.
The Cuban government, which has denounced U.S. pressure, recently took steps to protect vital services and ensure fuel supplies to key sectors.
Earlier this month, the United Nations warned of a possible humanitarian “collapse” as Cuba’s oil supplies dwindle.
“The Secretary-General is extremely concerned about the humanitarian situation in Cuba, which will deteriorate or even collapse if oil needs are not met,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
