The Singing to the Sun Children’s Song Festival began in 1993, and its fundamental objective is to promote children’s songs in our country. It is an annual songwriting and performance festival, which places a premium on songwriting.

The competition is open to all professional and amateur composers, children and adults alike. However, all children and adolescents are responsible for the competing works. A selection is made from hundreds of entries submitted from all over the country, encompassing a myriad of musical genres: Son, Guaracha, Merengue, Tonada, Canción; but with one common denominator: quality. The annual galas for this competition take place at the Karl Marx Theater in Havana (1010 1st Ave., Miramar, Playa, Havana).

This Children’s Song Festival promotes imagination, knowledge, and moral and aesthetic values. This has been one of the main merits of the uninterrupted presence of these competitions in the Cuban audio and television scene, as they encourage creation for children, which thus enjoys a certain degree of promotion thanks to the production of a CD by the Musical Recording and Publishing Company (EGREM) (1008 3rd Street between 10th and 12th Streets, Miramar, Playa, Havana) featuring the winners and live broadcasts of the performances.

In 2007, the opening performance was dedicated to educators. A total of 11 new children’s songs, performed by children accompanied by the Solfa Choir, along with performances by Bebé Compañía and La Colmenita, were some of the offerings presented in December of that year as part of the 14th edition of the Cantándole al Sol Festival.

The 18th anniversary, celebrated in June 2010, was specifically dedicated to the 17th World Festival of Youth and Students. The closing day of the event featured Chilean Eugenio Ravinet, Secretary General of the Ibero-American Youth Organization.

Ninth-grade pioneer María Lina Álvarez, from Villa Clara, won first prize with the song “Mi mar” (My Sea), sung with elegance by Roxana Pérez Rivera. Regional participation was lower this year than in previous years, as among 365 entries, the 16 finalists came from only seven provinces. The songs were presented by members of various artistic projects in the capital, so it was decided to award the composers rather than the performers. Second and third place went, in that order, to the songs “Para pintar tu sonrisa” (To Paint Your Smile) by Melvis and Milvian Rodríguez from Santiago de Cuba, and Gatico con cascabel (Gatico with a Bell) by Gilberto Rodríguez from Pinar del Río.

The Cantándole al Sol Children’s Song Festival has created a collection of music to expand the Cuban children’s repertoire and for teacher training. Throughout its editions, it has encouraged children to develop a preference, which is increasingly rare, for music composed for their age groups.