CARIBBEAN CULTURAL FESTIVALS
CARIBBEAN CULTURAL FESTIVALS
Get Ready to Whine!
Carnival in many Caribbean Islands is an annual event featuring sound systems and parade bands. Carnival has three elements; dressing up in a masquerade, music, and dancing. Carnival is all about elaborate costumes, steel drums, masks, feathers, people, food, and most importantly the vast array of drinks!!
Carnival spreads to many Caribbean Islands, where tradition is infused with the unique culture each island brings. While all carnivals worldwide celebrate with costumes and dancing, you experience a different flavor of Carnival in the Caribbean depending on which island you visit.
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Barbados
Barbados Crop Over
27 Jul - 2 Aug 2023
St. Vincent & the Grenadines
St. Vincent & Grenadines Carnival 4 -5 July 2023
Dominica Republic Carnival 28 Feb - Mar 1 2023
Carnival De Ponce
Puerto Rico
25 Feb - 1 Mar 2023
Martinique
Martinique Carnival
24 Feb - 2 Mar 2023
St. Lucia:
St Lucia Carnival is one of the best annual party events in the Caribbean. Taking place each year during July. St Lucia becomes a massive celebration filled with elaborate costumes, intoxicating rhythms, parades and much more. Under the leadership of the Cultural Development Foundation, St Lucia Carnival continues to grow more vibrant and creative each year. St Lucia Carnival commences in the island’s capital of Castries. there is a wide range of festivities that take place throughout the entire city; Castries Capital and Gras Islet hosting most of the action. A number of parties also take place on Pigeon Island, Reduit Beach and Rodney Bay Marina.
Jamaica:
The Love Of Culture Crop Over Festival is an annual summer festival dating back to the 17th century. Jamaica is the most popular and colourful event in the Caribbean and celebrates the official end of the sugar cane season. The six-week event celebrates with parties from dusk till dawn, arts and crafts markets, culinary-driven street fairs and more.
Jamaica Carnival is the place to go if you want to have the time of your life! It is a high energy, vibrant, colourful celebration. Filled with reggae, calypso and soca music.
Barbados:
Crop Over is the official Opening Gala and the Ceremonial Delivery of the Last Canes. The festival features ‘Cohobblopot’, a large carnival show with members of Kadooment bands. Crop Over is the biggest event of the year! It is a whole month of celebrating with parades, parties and live music. Come and live it up and experience the carnival spirit that is felt during Crop Over!
Grenada:
Carriacou Carnival is the the best style of street dancing in Grenada. With an array of different cultural traditions, island music, food with various spices, all those that visit the island are filled with joy, laughter and vibrant colours.
Trinidad:
Trinidad Carnival is the mother of all Carnival celebrations. The country hosts the biggest party in the Caribbean. Carnivalists parade the streets for two days while wearing elaborate feathered costumes otherwise known as "mas" on the island. Hotel bookings get booked a year in advance, so make sure you plan ahead if you want to attend this legendary festival.
Dominican Republic:
The Dominican Republic definitely puts its own spin on Carnival, where traditional calypso music is swapped out for bachata and merengue. While Carnival displays an array of colourful costumes, feathers, Carnivalists often wear traditional wear that represents their African or Indigenous Taíno roots. Parades take place every Sunday in February throughout the country with La Vega being one of the top spots to visit.
Puerto Rico:
Carnival in Puerto Rico also known as Carnaval Ponceño, is centralized in the city of Ponce on the southern coast. Which takes place throughout the week leading up to Ash Wednesday, with plenty of traditions that transport carnivalists back to Spain, such as the final Burial of the Sardine ritual. Final night, "mourners" carry a giant constructed sardine through the town in a mock funeral and then burn it. As with all Carnival events, the ritual is followed up by an all-night party.
St. Vincent and the Grenadines:
St. Vincent and the Grenadines, also known as Vincy Mas, a carnival initially held in the days before Lent but now a summer celebration. Vincy Mas includes street festivals, calypso music, steel drum performances, and, most famously, Mardi Gras street parties and parades. The same Carnival tradition across other Caribbean Islands,, just held a few months later.
Martinique:
Martinique Carnival will take place from February 24 – March 2, 2023. In Martinique, travelers can check out Martinique Carnival, which takes place in the days leading up to Lent and consists of both local and tourist events. Particular to Martinique is the "King Carnival" celebration on Ash Wednesday that includes a massive bonfire in which King Vaval, "the king of Carnival," is made out of reeds, wood, and other flammable materials and then burned as an effigy in celebration. Martinique Carnival puts a distinctly European twist on the classic celebration. For five days each year, the daily life of Martinique is suspended and the villages are filled with non-stop music, parties and more. Each village prepares new costumes, props and floats; which are unveiled at the carnival parade.
Haiti:
locals and visitors alike can celebrate "Haitian Defile Kanaval," one of the larger carnivals in the Caribbean islands that extends across multiple Haitian cities. This Carnival celebration takes its Fat Tuesday celebrations seriously, with feasts, costumes, music, and all kinds of frenzied fun.
