Back in the Eighties, there used to be a cinema advert which showed a beautiful woman sashaying through the surf on a sunny, Caribbean beach.

I can’t remember the exact wording of the voice over but it was something along the lines ‘Your Aunty Morag… walking along Sauchiehall Street on a rainy Sunday afternoon… if you’re drinking Bacardi’.

These days, I’m not sure that you’re allowed to promote the idea that alcohol can alter your sense of reality for the better but the ads seemed very funny at the time. You can see the English version of it here. I can’t find the Scottish version.

No matter how much Bacardi you have knocked back, at first glance, you would think that Glasgow and the Caribbean have little in common.

Obviously, at least out with the hurricane season, there aren’t too many similarities in terms of the weather.

However, dig a little deeper and there are links.

Twin cities

For example, Glasgow and Havana in Cuba have been twinned since 2002.

Helping to strengthen those links is the debut Havana Glasgow Film Festival. Launching on Saturday 31 October and running until Sunday 8 November, the event aims to bring some Caribbean culture to Glasgow with a series of film and documentary premieres, talks and parties taking place across the city.

The full programme can be browsed here.

One of the festival’s sponsors is Mango, the new-ish Caribbean restaurant, bar and dance/music venue on Sauchiehall Street.

Tasty Big Deal

To help everyone get into the Latin mood, Mango and the Boteco do Brasil restaurants in Glasgow and Edinburgh are running a sweet Big Deal.

You can check the full details here but, essentially, the offer is for two people to each have a main course, dessert and Mojito cocktail at any of the three venues.

All three restaurants serve traditional South American dishes. This scribbler can recommend the Brazilian classic feijoada – a traditional feast dish, it is made with black beans, pork ribs, smoked bacon, salt beef and smoked sausage, all served with rice, chilli salad, flavoured cassava flour and slices of orange.

Tuck in.