The Caribbean is simply a tropical paradise. It is get-away where people can come relax, enjoy the clear waters and tropical beaches. However, besides the ambiance the Caribbean offers a wide variety of festivals and events.
Indulging in some of the Caribbean festivals your next trip will be a life changing experience. The Caribbean islands host parties and events like no other place in the world. In this article, we will go through some of the best Caribbean festivals you must go to on your next vacation.
Trinidad Carnival – Trinidad
This is the mother of all carnivals in the Caribbean. One of the best Caribbean festivals on this list it has inspired many street parties in the world.
Carnival starts each year on the 26th December and ends on “Ash Wednesday”. The Carnival dates change each year, as it depends on the Catholic calendar. For example, Carnival Monday in 2018 was February 13th however; in 2019, it is March 4th.
The Festival started during slavery. The slaves banned from attending their masters elaborate parties, decided to host their own costumed parties.
Dating back as far as the 18th century, it was revitalised in the 70s by Garfield Blackman (aka Ras Shorty I) through soca music. Soca music plays a huge role in carnival.
Events
Carnival has events day and night. Consisting of cooler fetes, all-inclusive parties, cruises and breakfast parties. One of the best events to go to is J’ouvert. J’ouvert marks the start of the two-day carnival celebrations, which are carnival Monday and Tuesday.
J’ouvert originating from the French jour ouvert, meaning daybreak or morning is a street party. It starts in the early hours of the morning and consists of revellers partying usually covered in oil, mud or paint.
Carnival Monday and Tuesday
The climax of the festival is Carnival Monday and Carnival Tuesday, which are the days the masquerade and parades take place. The parades are incredible with revellers dressed in colourful costumes with beautiful feathers and accessories. These two days can have as much as 50 thousand people in the streets of Trinidad.
Celebrities travel from all over the world to take part in carnival. This includes people such as Nicki Minaj, Tatyana Ali, Usain Bolt, Idris Elba and Richard Branson to name a few.
In addition, the festival has also produced some of the best soca artists in the world. Artists such as Machel Montano, Bunji Garlin and Patrice Roberts.
Trinidad carnival should definitely be on your list of Caribbean festivals to experience. If you plan to go check out our planning guide .
Crop Over – Barbados
The Crop Over festival is a 200-year-old tradition. It celebrates the end of the sugar cane season and lasts approximately two months.
The government holds the official launch of the festival in June. However, soca artists start releasing music from as early as March. In addition, promoters start organising fetes around this time as well.
The festival finishes in August at Grand Kadooment. Grand Kadooment is always the first Monday in August, in 2019 Kadooment will be Monday, August 5th.
This festival is arguably the best on this list. It offers a wide range of events that caters to everyone. It has non-stop events ranging from breakfast parties, cruises, J’ouvert parties and numerous soca fetes.
Some of the best parties to attend for the season are; Tipsy, Puff of Colour, Powder, Gimme Soca, Lush Cooler Experience, Lifted and Soca on de Hill. These are just a few as there are too many to mention.
One of the major events for the festival is Foreday Morning. Foreday Morning Jam is a night-based event. It starts after the announcement of the winner of the Calypso competition ‘Pic-O-De-Crop’.
The party starts around 11 pm Friday night and finishes between 5:30-6 am Saturday morning. Foreday consists of revellers partying behind bands in costumes covered in paint, powder or water.
The grand finale of the season is Grand kadooment, which celebrates the end of Crop Over. This is a massive street party with thousands of revellers in costumes. The revellers are dressed in costumes with beautiful feathers, jewels and other accessories. Kadooment starts at the national stadium and finishes on Spring Garden Highway.
Look out for costumes for the festival on our carnival page.
Junkanoo – Nassau, New Providence Island, Bahamas
Junkanoo is a massive street party with costumes, music and dancing. The festival is every Boxing Day and New Year’s Day. The largest Junkanoo parade happens in Nassau. However, Junkanoo is also celebrated on Independence Day (July 10th).
While people dispute its origins, Junkanoo is believed to have started centuries ago during slavery. The slaves on plantations in the Bahamas celebrated the holidays around Christmas time with dance, music, and costumes.
Upon emancipation, the tradition continued and evolved into the organised event we see today. The festival has competitions with six major groups Colours, Music Makers, One Family, Roots, Saxons and Valley Boys.
Each group with thousands of members, compete against each other for prizes based on theme, choreography, costume, and music.
The Junkanoo parade goes through the streets of Nassau between the hours of 2-10 am. At the end of the parade, judges’ award cash prizes for the best music, best costume, and best overall group presentation.
The festival has been featured in movies such as the James Bond film Thunderball. To see more on the festival check out their website
Reggae Sumfest– Jamaica
Reggae Sumfest, which started in 1993, is the largest musical festival in Jamaica. The festival lasts for approximately one week and takes place annually mid-July in Montego Bay.
The festival brands the country of Jamaica to the world. It has performances from the biggest reggae artists in the game such as Bounty Killer, Mavado, Popcaan and Sean Paul just to name a few. International acts such as Rihanna, Missy Elliot, 50 cent and Kanye West have graced the stages of Sumfest.
The festival offers an authentic reggae experience as it is in the birthplace of reggae. If you have never experienced a reggae show before this would be a good opportunity. Apart from the show, you will fall in love with the parties’, beaches and the Jamaican way of life.
The show features true icons from the genre and always supplies top tier reggae artists. Spice had one of the best performances at the show this year you can check it out here.
Vincymas – St. Vincent
Vincymas is the festival of St. Vincent and the Grenadines; it is a mixture of music, dance and culture. The festival starts in June and goes through July. Just like the carnivals of the other Caribbean islands, it consists of street parties the most popular being Mardi gras and J’ouvert.
During the festival there are competitions held such as Miss SVG competition, the Soca Monarch Competition, Miss Carnival, the Junior Pan Fest to name a few. I have friends who head to St. Vincent every year to take part in the festivities. The experience is fantastic and keeps drawing them back.
The carnival is not a big as Crop Over or Trinidad Carnival however, the party is amazing. We would definitely recommend Vincymas to be on your bucket list for events to attend. To see the complete list of activities for Vincymas check out their website here.
St. Lucia Jazz Festival – St. Lucia
St. Lucia jazz festival is an annual event held in St. Lucia. The festival, which takes place in May, celebrates jazz music and brings together local and international performing acts. It started in 1991 as an initiative to extend the tourist season.
Since its inception, it has gained popularity and now is a fixture in the Jazz festival calendar. What I love about the Jazz festival is that is attracts many well-established international performers such as Rihanna, Mary J Blidge, Boyz II Men, Neyo and Fantasia.
Therefore, you get a mixture of music from the festival. The festival has events all over the country with some paid and free events. Other Caribbean islands have jazz festivals such as Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago and Curacao but St Lucia’s is by far the most successful.
The pigeon island national park is the home of most of the activities surrounding the festival. This is a beautiful location filled with local history. If you would like to see more information about the festival and its schedule check out their website here.
This is definitely a premium event and I would recommend it to all Jazz lovers. The beauty of this festival is that not only do you get to enjoy the jazz music and performances but the beauty of the island of St. Lucia.
Jamaica Carnival – Jamaica
Easter time is when the streets of Jamaica come alive for the splendour that is Jamaica Carnival. The carnival unfolds in the streets of Kingston, Ocho Rios and Montego Bay. Inspired by Trinidad carnival, Jamaica created its own representation, which started Sunday, April 22, 1990.
Carnival although being new to the country, has grown rapidly. In addition to the inspiration from Trinidad’s carnival, many Trinidadian soca artists and costume designers take part in Jamaica carnival.
Some of the popular bands to play mas with are Xaymaca International, Bacchanal Jamaica and Xodus Carnival.
Many aspiring soca artists from over the island compete for the chance to enter Trinidad’s Soca Monarch competition. Linky First is one of the most prominent artists from the country.
Some of the parties and cruises you can look out for are Tribe Ignite, Candy Coated Cruise, Soca Brainwash and Xaymaca Beach Lime. We definitely recommend this festival and it is no secret Jamaica knows how to host a party.
St. Kitts Music Festival – St. Kitts
St. Kitts music festival takes place annually around the month of June in the island of St. Kitts. It is one of the most diverse festivals on this list as it attracts artists from different genres of music from R&B, Jazz, Soca and Dancehall.
The music festival has been going on for over 20 years and continues to grow. It spans five days and the celebrations are in Warner Park Stadium. The event always has performances from major international artists such as 50 cent, Damian Marley, Lauren Hill, Ciara, Sean Paul and Shaggy.
Apart from the excellent time you will have at the music festival, St. Kitts has some of the best beaches in the world. You can also visit the UNESCO World Heritage sites and take part in many other activities while in the country.
Check out their website to see more information on the festivals as well as other events they have here.
In closing, the Caribbean has so much to offer in terms of beautiful landscapes and beaches but the one thing unique we have to offer is our culture. Taking part in these festivals will give you the opportunity to experience first-hand our cultural diversity.
You get to see the locals in their natural element and feel the warmth of the people. In addition, you get to see how we party.
Thanks for reading our article, comment below and let us know of your experiences. Let us if you have ever been to any of the festivals in our list. Also, let us know if there are any festival you believed we left off that deserve to be here.