Backpacking Diplomacy by Andy A blog dedicated to sharing world culture, travel tips and building community.
Looking for this year’s festival? This is the 2024 recap. For the full history and what the festival is about, see our complete guide: Yauco National Coffee Festival. For the current edition, see our 2026 post.
The 49th Festival Nacional del Café Freddie León Maldonado ran Sunday, February 25 through Sunday, March 3, 2024, in Yauco, under the theme “Nuestro festival: esencia, sabor, aroma y cultura.” The edition commemorated 268 years since the founding of Yauco by Don Fernando Pacheco de Matos, and closed with La Secta All Star on Saturday night and Grupo Atabal on Sunday.
The 2024 festival at a glance
- What: XLIX Festival Nacional del Café Freddie León Maldonado
- When: February 25 to March 3, 2024
- Theme: “Nuestro festival: esencia, sabor, aroma y cultura”
- Anniversary: 268 years of Yauco’s founding
- Where: Plaza Fernando Pacheco de Matos, with events in Barrio Susúa, Hipódromo Camarero, and Yaucoop
- Admission: Free
- Board president: Profa. Aurora Gómez Vélez
- Mayor: Hon. Ángel L. Torres Ortiz
The 2024 program
Sunday, February 25
- 10:00 AM · Festival comienza en el campo, Bo. Susúa, Parque de Pelota Adán Recio, Sector Cacique
- 3:00 PM · Clásico Festival del Café, Hipódromo Camarero
Monday, February 26
- 5:00 AM · Diana por el centro urbano, Banda Escolar de Yauco
- 7:30 PM · Develación del Afiche Oficial, salón de actos de Yaucoop
Tuesday, February 27
- Presentación del libro “El Fantasma de la taza de oro,” Yaucoop
Wednesday, February 28 (Plaza Fernando Pacheco de Matos)
- Noche de la Danza, with Fraternidad Alpha Beta Chi
- 6:00 PM · Inscripciones
- 7:00 PM · Participación de competidores
Thursday, February 29 (268 years of Yauco’s founding)
- 6:30 PM · Premiaciones del Certamen de Literatura y Pintura
- 8:00 PM · Coronación de Reinas
- 9:00 PM · Milton Alicea y Compañía Jíbara
- 10:30 PM · Grupo Típico Sazón Criollo
Friday, March 1
- 10:00 AM · Día del Niño, with Niños Trovadores de Yauco
- 2:00 PM · Apertura Feria de Artesanías
- 5:00 PM · Ballet Folclórico Agüeybana
- 7:00 PM · Monin y Trío Fraticelli
- 8:00 PM · Noche de Homenaje a la Orden del Cafetal, honoring Sr. Jonathan “Pito” Hernández León, and the Gran Comendador, Sr. Ruberson Miranda Santiago
- 9:30 PM · Orquesta Son Nueve
- 11:00 PM · Orquesta Corporación Latina
Saturday, March 2
- 11:00 AM · Apertura Feria de Artesanías
- 12:00 PM · Bomba con Trovadores, Taller Palenque
- 1:30 PM · Grupo Jacará
- 3:00 PM · Grupo Maestro
- 4:00 PM · Águilas Yaucanas (ESOTY)
- 5:00 PM · Saborinquen
- 6:30 PM · Odilio González
- 8:00 PM · Cuarteto de Bomba
- 9:30 PM · Peter Torres y su Nueva Trova
- 11:00 PM · La Secta All Star
Sunday, March 3
- 9:30 AM · Recorrido “De la finca a la taza”
- 10:00 AM · Apertura Feria de Artesanías
- 10:00 AM · Misa Jíbara, Parroquia Nuestra Señora del Santísimo Rosario
- 10:30 AM · Botas de Gallo
- 12:00 PM · Conversatorio sobre “El Café”
- 1:00 PM · Desfile del Festival Nacional del Café, departing from the Coliseo de Yauco
- 5:00 PM · Gran Concurso de Trovadores José Ángel Ortiz “El Jíbaro de Yauco”
- 8:30 PM · Grupo Atabal
The trovador competition, in detail
The 2024 Concurso de Trovadores was serious business. Held Sunday, March 3 at Plaza Fernando Pacheco de Matos from 5:00 PM, moderated by Julio César Sanabria, it carried a published prize purse:
| Place | Prize |
|---|---|
| 1st | $1,500 |
| 2nd | $900 |
| 3rd | $700 |
| 4th | $500 |
| 5th through 8th | $200 each |
That is real money for improvised sung poetry, and it tells you how seriously Yauco takes the trova tradition. The competition is named for José Ángel Ortiz, “El Jíbaro de Yauco.”
What the 2024 edition tells you about the festival
The coffee is the point, not the backdrop. Sunday’s “De la finca a la taza” tour and the conversatorio on coffee sat right alongside the parade. This is an agricultural festival that happens to have a great lineup, not a concert with coffee branding.
The music range is enormous. In one weekend: bomba, trova, salsa, ballet folclórico, and La Secta All Star, a rock band. The festival does not pick a lane.
Leap day got its own party. February 29, 2024 doubled as the 268th anniversary of Yauco’s founding, with the queens’ coronation and the literature and painting awards.
Watch the festival
Planning a visit
The festival returns every year in late February and early March. Our 2026 post covers the current edition, and the complete guide has the full history. See also our recaps of 2023 and 2025.
Coming to Yauco? Start with our guide to Yauco and our walking guide to the historic houses of Yauco. For what to eat, see our guide to Puerto Rican street food.
Follow along
- Facebook: Festival Nacional del Café de Yauco
Were you at the 49th? Tell us in the comments who should have won the trova. We read every one.
This post covers the 2024 edition, which has concluded. Prize amounts and details reflect the program as published by the organizers at the time. For the full story of the festival, see our complete guide to the Yauco National Coffee Festival.
