6 minute read
Pick Your Party
From joyous street parties to celebrations of food and culture, find your fiesta with our guide to the travel season’s top Caribbean festivals.
By Hannah Giorgis
Jamaica Food & Drink Festival
November 7 to 10
KINGSTON, JAMAICA
Some of Jamaica’s best chefs and wine and spirits experts will come together for the 10th annual celebration of the island’s rich food and drink culture. There are several marquee pre-festival events: If you’re in Kingston on October 8, don’t miss Saveur, the multi-course, wine-paired tasting menu at Broken Plate, a rooftop restaurant where chef Damion Stewart serves up inventive, locally inspired dishes like oxtail wonton and curried goat pasta. During the festival dates in November, visitors can experience a buzzing craft market in downtown Kingston and an intimate meal at the Jamaica Food and Drink Kitchen prepared by José Mendín from Miami’s Pubbelly Sushi and Mathieu Masson-Duceppe of Cooking Channel’s Fire Masters.
Antigua and Barbuda Art Week
November 27 to December 3
PRIMARILY ST. JOHN’S, ANTIGUA, BUT ALSO ON BARBUDA
As if Antigua’s 365 beaches weren’t picturesque enough, the second annual Antigua and Barbuda Art Week celebrates the country’s visual arts, fashion, music, film and dance scenes. This year’s edition will feature an exhibition of local artists’ work, as well as performances, artist showcases, screenings, art walks, studio tours and community events on both islands: During last year’s Art Hop, visitors met three artists working in studios near Barbuda’s stunning Codrington Lagoon. The festival also hosts an artist-led Paint, Sip & Eat event, where you can grab a brush and create your own work of art inspired by the islands’ lush landscapes.
As if Antigua’s 365 beaches weren’t picturesque enough, the second annual Antigua and Barbuda Art Week celebrates the country’s visual arts, fashion, music, film and dance scenes. This year’s edition will feature an exhibition of local artists’ work, as well as performances, artist showcases, screenings, art walks, studio tours and community events on both islands: During last year’s Art Hop, visitors met three artists working in studios near Barbuda’s stunning Codrington Lagoon. The festival also hosts an artist-led Paint, Sip & Eat event, where you can grab a brush and create your own work of art inspired by the islands’ lush landscapes.
Sugar Mas (Saint Kitts and Nevis National Carnival)
December 13, 2024, to January 2, 2025
BASSETERRE, SAINT KITTS AND NEVIS
The first epic Carnival of 2025 officially kicks off this December, and you can catch pre-Carnival events, like musical competitions, even earlier. Sugar Mas offers the inimitable music and artistry that experienced revelers expect of any Caribbean Carnival: steel pan drums, soca fêtes and parades of intricately costumed masqueraders. Here, Carnival also celebrates local artisans — find last-minute gifts like perfumes, clothing and masquerade-friendly accessories at the Midnight Escape Street Festival, held on Christmas Eve. Sugar Mas runs right into the New Year, making the dual-island nation of Saint Kitts and Nevis the perfect place to ring in 2025.
Fiestas de la Calle San Sebastián
January 16 to 19, 2025
OLD SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO
Held the third weekend of January, the San Sebastián Street Festival closes out la Navidad, the country’s extended Christmas season. Known as “la SanSe,” Old San Juan’s beloved cultural celebration (and the island’s largest festival) is mostly celebrated in the streets: Nearly half a million locals and visitors gather for the parades, dancing and live bomba, plena and salsa music. There’s also a street market and Puerto Rican street food like empanadillas, bacalaitos and tostones, plus concerts and parties that ensure the festivities continue long after sundown.
Trinidad and Tobago Carnival
February 25 to March 5, 2025
PORT OF SPAIN, TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO
Dubbed “The Greatest Show on Earth,” Trinidad and Tobago Carnival brings droves of costumed revelers together to play mas (masquerade) in a tradition that calls back to the islands’ resistance to slavery. These are some of the biggest fêtes, most elaborate costumes and most joyfully strenuous activities of any Caribbean Carnival. Expect all-day parties like Soca Brainwash and gatherings like J’ouvert (French for “daybreak”), which kicks off the two official days of Carnival processions with a pre-dawn, paint-soaked street celebration. Warm-up events include the Soaka Arts & Music Festival, where you can watch steel pan bands compete or dance at an all-night soca party.
St. Maarten Heineken Regatta
March 6 to 9, 2025
SIMPSON BAY, SINT MAARTEN
The 45th edition of this renowned regatta is expected to attract more than 20,000 visitors, and it’s easy to see why the event is so popular: Sint Maarten’s beautifully clear, warm waters and cooling northeast trade winds make for optimal race conditions. If you’re not competing, watch the action from the official Spectator Boat, which offers breakfast, lunch and an open bar. There’s more fun to be had on dry land: Regatta Village, hosted at Port de Plaisance Resort, turns into a nightly music festival featuring some of the Caribbean’s top artists (reggae legends Kevin Lyttle, Rupee and Tarrus Riley were all headliners in 2024).
Nassau Paradise Island Wine & Food Festival
March 12 to 16, 2025
PARADISE ISLAND, THE BAHAMAS
This year, The Bahamas’ largest-ever culinary celebration brought world-famous chefs Martha Stewart, José Andrés and Nobu Matsuhisa (and musicians like Wyclef Jean) together for five days of mouth-watering events at Atlantis, the luxury oceanside resort on Paradise Island, off of Nassau. The 2025 lineup includes two of the resort’s own stars: Michael White, of the Italianinspired Paranza, and JJ Johnson, of the new Afro-Caribbean restaurant Fieldtrip. Events like Jerk Jam (honoring the smoky, spicy seasoning) and Taste of Paradise let attendees try fare from many different Bahamian restaurateurs.
