A Festival in Its Own Right

Four years ago, at the first Procigar Festival, even the most devoted fans of Dominican cigars showed up with undisguised skepticism: "Doesn't the world's cigar industry already have a recognized and successful international cigar festival? " they asked themselves. Could Santiago really compete with Havana? The first day of the 2008 Procigar Festival answered their question– Santiago had no intention of competing for the title.

The Dominicans did something rather unthinkable compared to the Habanos Festival: they gave attendees full access to the production cycle. It is this complete and captivating participation in the life of the Dominican cigar manufacturers that sets the Procigar Festival apart from Havana's festival, and establishes it as a festival in its own right.

Here's how it works: You buy a plane ticket and a ticket to this festival, set your feet on Dominican soil, and get practically unlimited access to everything that a cigar lover could possibly dream of – production plants, plantations, manufacturers, and even their offices and homes!

Of course, this doesn't mean that Guillermo Leon has a few dozen festival-goers milling around in his kitchen every morning of the festival, trying to make themselves scrambled eggs (although, to be honest, this isn't as far-fetched as it may seem).

The program of the festival is structured in the following way. You get a list of places to visit in the framework of the forum. These places include the factories of La Aurora, MATASA, Davidoff and General Cigar, as well as the Davidoff tobacco fields, the General Cigar fields, the Brugal Rum Distillery, the Karoma Estate coffee plantation and a few cultural sites.

From this varied assortment, you have a choice of three different sites, and those three sites will make up your program – you'll spend one day at each location. Each tour takes, on average, between 4 to 6 hours, including lunch, after which all the guests meet for dinner, celebrations, auctions, parties, master classes and tastings –all of which comprises the host program and that unites all the participants.

On top of all that, no matter where you are – whether at a factory, at lunch or in a night club – you'll be surrounded by legends, rubbing elbows with people like Hendrik Kelner, Avo Uvezian, and Benjamin Menendez, or some other larger than life figure in the cigar world. The manufacturers take part in the program on par with all the other guests.

Visit our photo gallery to see the photos from 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011's ProCigar Festival.