Antigua Carnival

Antiguan Carnival, Carribean's premier summer festival, is celebrated to commemorate the earliest abolition of slavery in the British Carribean. The ten day festival of colorful costumes, beauty pageants, talent shows and good music, is celebrated each year during the last week of July and culminates on the first Monday and Tuesday in August.

The festivities are exciting and extensive, ranging from the Party Monarch and Calypso Monarch competitions of Calypsonians, the Panorama steel band competition, the spectacular Parade of Bands to the Miss Antigua Pageant and the Caribbean Queen's Competition. In addition to these major events, the nonstop revelry of this carnival includes innumerable smaller festivities, including local concerts, food fairs, parades, and cultural shows.   

Several music forms enthrall the audience during the Antigua Carnival celebrations. Calypso, Steel drum music, Soca and Reggae play prominent roles. The Calypso competitions are a highlight of the Carnival. Calypso, the oldest form of music, began as a means of communication for the slaves. It is a polyglot, improvisational form that depends largely upon the skill of a soloist, the calypsonian, who weaves the sounds of many cultures into a lyrical whole. Steel drum music has been an important part of the Carnival and Antigua is home to many of the Caribbeans finest steel bands. Steel drum music originated when the bamboo percussion instruments, used to back up calypso, were replaced by hammered steel pans. Soca is a musical form that grafts the slower beat of American soul music to the upbeat tempos of calypso. It began in the 1970s, and by the mid-80s, it had become an integral part of the Carnival.

Raggae, another popular musical form, features significantly in the Carnival.

Many smaller festivals, food fairs and cultural shows make the celebrations merrier.

This 10-day festival of pageantry, music, color, costumes and celebrations, is rivalled nowhere else in the Eastern Caribbean. Be sure to be a part of the colorful gala and enjoy the celebrations of emancipation!