The Bacardi Classics softball tournament brings 1950s Havana to Finsbury Park this Sunday.
I’m eternally grateful to Bacardi for throwing this event and thereby allowing me the opportunity to post a video clip from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, because a). I love the film, and b). It will explain the headline of this article to those not familiar with American sporting chants.
On Sunday July 22nd, Bacardi will invoke the spirit of 1950s Havana at Finsbury Park softball pitches with their Bacardi Classics Softball Tournament.
Teams of bartenders will slip (and in some cases shoehorn) themselves into period baseball uniforms, kick dust in the Umpire’s face and slide to first in an effort to win themselves a trip to Barcelona on Bacardi’s dime.
The Bacardi family were big supporters of Cuban baseball before Castro booted them out of the motherland, which makes sense because I can’t think of many drinks better suited to sipping while watching sport in the hot sun than a daiquiri.
Except maybe beer, but they have that base covered too (I hope you are appreciating these baseball gags), as they have shipped a substantial amount of Hatuey Cuban ale over for the occasion. Hatuey was first brewed in Cuba in 1927 and became the country’s most popular beer, and for many of us this will be our first opportunity to taste it.
There will be mucho food and drink to enjoy while watching the action, and Bacardi UK ambassador Sherene Shahbazkhani is, as I type, praying to the spirit of Don Facundo Bacardi for sunshine on Sunday, so get to the pitches by 12pm and stake out your spot.
The finals of the tournament will be held on the 19th August