Roberto Àngel Salcedo inaugurates this 2026 Festival in Higüey

Minister of Culture, Roberto Ángel Salcedo, led the opening ceremony of Este Festival 2026, which will be held from August 28 to 30 at the Higüey campus of the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo (UASD), as an initiative aimed at promoting the culture, art, and identity of the provinces in the eastern region of the country.

In his speech, Salcedo highlighted the significance of this Festival as a space to value the cultural expressions, traditions, and heritage of the region’s communities, while also emphasizing its contribution to the cultural decentralization policy promoted by the Ministry of Culture.

During the celebration, the Minister of Culture, Roberto Ángel Salcedo, received the Coat of Arms of the Villa Salvaleón de Higüey, a distinction granted by the municipality in recognition of his work and commitment to the promotion and strengthening of Dominican culture. 

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The opening day included an artistic performance by the Sueño Musical Children’s Choir, as well as the screening of a promotional audiovisual for this 2026 Festival, which presented the various activities that attendees will be able to enjoy, from artistic performances to a showcase of the richness and gastronomic diversity of the six provinces that make up the Eastern region: El Seibo, Hato Mayor, La Altagracia, La Romana, Monte Plata, and San Pedro de Macorís.

The cultural gathering, dedicated to the artisan Genaro Reyes “Cayuco”, brings together institutions, authorities, artists, and representatives of communities from the Eastern region in a celebration of their diversity and cultural richness, with a program designed to make their artistic expressions, traditions, and identity visible and to strengthen the ties between culture and territory.