San Juan USA | Venezuelan Cultural Heritage

San Juan USA is a Miami-based nonprofit cultural organization dedicated to safeguarding, teaching, researching, documenting, and promoting Venezuelan cultural heritage in the United States, with a special focus on Afro-Venezuelan traditions.

Founded in 2021, San Juan USA was created from the need to ensure that our traditions remain alive and accessible beyond Venezuela. Miami is our home and the heart of our community. From here, we develop educational programs, cultural celebrations, performances, workshops, musical creation, research, and documentation initiatives that connect the Venezuelan diaspora with its heritage while introducing the richness and diversity of Venezuelan culture to broader audiences.

One of San Juan USA’s principal cultural initiatives is the Gran Fiesta de San Juan USA, the largest Afro-Venezuelan drum celebration in the United States. Since its founding, the festival has become an important gathering point for Afro-Venezuelan culture in the diaspora, bringing together musicians, dancers, tradition bearers, artists, families, and audiences around the diversity of Venezuelan drums, music, dance, and traditional expressions.

At the core of our educational work is the Cátedra Baila, Toca y Canta Afrovenezolano, a theoretical and practical learning experience dedicated to teaching and transmitting Afro-Venezuelan music and dance traditions through percussion, singing, movement, and their cultural context.

Our commitment to preservation extends beyond the stage. San Juan USA is developing initiatives in cultural research, musical recording, oral history, and audiovisual documentation to preserve traditional knowledge, music, stories, and practices in collaboration with the artists, tradition bearers, and communities that keep them alive.

Through our festivals, educational programs, workshops, performances, and community activities, we engage approximately 2,000–3,000 people in person each year. Our cultural, educational, and audiovisual content reaches nearly one million people digitally, extending our impact beyond the communities we serve in person.

Throughout our journey, San Juan USA has received numerous recognitions for its cultural work, including Emprendedor Latino USA, Líder Internacional, FESTACOVE, and Mara de Oro honors. Our work has also received editorial recognition from GRAMMY.com, highlighting the growing visibility of Venezuelan traditional music and culture in the United States. We have developed programs and collaborations with institutions including the Adrienne Arsht Center, Pérez Art Museum Miami, Koubek Center, Miami Dade College, Lincoln Center in New York, and other cultural and community spaces, while working alongside nationally and internationally recognized artists, tradition bearers, and cultural groups.

Our long-term vision is to establish a Venezuelan Cultural Heritage Center in Miami: a permanent home for education, research, documentation, artistic creation, cultural preservation, and community gathering. We envision a place where Venezuelans, new generations, and anyone interested in our culture can learn our traditions, dance, play music, sing, explore our cultural memory, and reconnect with a piece of Venezuela in Miami.