Honduran President Nasry Asfura Announces New Cigar Festival for January 2027
Honduran Flag
Well, it is about time.
President Nasry “Tito” Asfura has just given the Honduran cigar industry something it has long deserved: a proper festival of its own. After meeting with the Consejo de Artesanos del Tabaco de Honduras, better known as Catah, the president announced that the Festival del Puro will take place in January 2027. The main events are planned for January 22 to 25. A formal gala dinner is expected in Tegucigalpa around the 24th, after which guests will head to Danlí in El Paraíso, the heart of the country’s cigar country, for visits to the farms and factories where the real work happens.
The timing is no accident. Those dates sit neatly in front of Nicaragua’s Puro Sabor festival, so visitors can enjoy Honduras first, then cross the border on the 26th and continue on to Estelí. One long stretch of good cigars, good company, and two neighboring countries that know how to roll them.
Honduras has been turning out some of the finest handmade cigars in the world for years. The tobacco is excellent, the rollers are skilled, and the finished product stands proudly beside anything coming out of the Dominican Republic or Nicaragua. Yet until now the country has never had a major annual festival to show it off.
This new gathering, organized by Catah, aims to change that. It will put the country’s craftsmanship on display, open the doors of its factories, and bring together Honduran makers with buyers, retailers, and enthusiasts from around the world. Héctor Valladares, secretary of Catah, called the meeting with the president productive and a welcome step toward closer cooperation between government and the people who grow and roll the tobacco. Officials pointed to the jobs the industry already supports and the reputation Honduran cigars continue to earn abroad.
Details are still being worked out, including the final name, full program, and how to register. A formal announcement is expected soon. What is already clear is that the government is standing behind one of the country’s most distinctive exports. For those of us who appreciate a well made cigar, this is good news. Honduras has been producing the goods all along. Now it will have a stage worthy of them. January 2027 cannot come soon enough.