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The festival calendar of the island has everything from cultural celebrations to eating and drinking festivals
1. Crop Over, a five-week summer festival, is Barbados' most popular and colorful festival. Its origins can be traced back to the 1780's, a time when Barbados was the world's largest producer of sugar. Calypso is one of the main features of the Crop over festival. |
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2. The Barbados Jazz festival (January 9th to 15th 2006). The Premiere Jazz Festival of the Caribbean. Performers at the 2006 festival include Lionel Richie, Jill Scott and Boney James. The Barbados Jazz Festival, which celebrates the best in international and local jazz talent, has become a major annual Caribbean event.
3. The Holetown Festival To commemorate the anniversary of the first settlement of the Barbados at Holetown, the festival is celebrated for a week in February every year. The opening celebrations take place at the Holetown Monument. |
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4. Holder’s Season takes place annually in March and is considered to be one of the region’s best performing arts festivals. It was started in 1993 and is hosted in the beautifully landscaped garden of Holder’s House in St James
5. NIFCA, which stands for “National Independence Festival of Creative Arts” was started in November 1973 and was conceptualized by the prominent playwright and journalist Jeannette Layne-Clark and the late Arden Clark
The festival highlights the Barbadian culture and history and the events include historical lectures, fashion shows, beauty contests, street parades, tattoo shows, exhibitions, concerts, theatrical presentations, sporting events and antique car parades.
6. Congaline Carnival
Started in 1994, this carnival at the Congaline Village swirls around good music and fun! The music played during the carnival varies from gospel to calypso and the entertainment is in the form of comedy and music shows. Best calypso singers from Barbados and other Caribbean islands perform during the popular night time entertainment.
The Congaline village has several food and beverage stalls as well as local art and craft stalls. The stay at the Time out at the gap, located opposite to the Congaline Village offers a fantastic bird’s eye view of the carnival activities!
7. The Carlisle bay water festival
This is a summer festival of the island delighting the visitors and the locals alike. Seven different local water sport associations converge on the beach in front of the Boat yard to highlight their sports.
8. Celtic festival
This festival marks the celebration of the heritage of Celtic cultures and the celebrations include music, song and dance. Irish, Welch and Scottish visitors and the residents of Barbados and other Caribbean countries participate in the festival. The events include Haggis Nite, International Nite, Highland games and Rugby tournaments.
9. Eat and Drink festival
The Island welcomes visitors for a nine days event packed with sumptuous events all focusing on great food and drink.
Inaugurated in 2001, the festival was celebrated in 2002 adding a new flavor to the festival with the introduction of Rum Shop safaris. The land of sun, fun and great restaurants welcome the visitors to spend days of eating and drinking!
10. Oistins Fish Festival
This festival celebrates the contribution made to Barbados by those persons involved in the fishing industry – a time to remember the people who feed the population from the sea surrounding the beautiful island.
The festival offers fun and entertainment for both locals and visitors alike. The festival with its calypso and reggae music enthralls the visitors. Traditional Bajan fare such as fish cakes, fried fish and pudding and souse are all available with Beer.
Local craftsmen take this time to display their works! The competitions like the fish boning competition and the grease pole competition add more fun to the celebrations.
11. Gospel Music festival
Barbadians are very religious people and there are over 100 religious sects operating in Barbados. Against this backdrop, a number of religious festivals are held in the island. Gospel music plays an important role in the spiritual lives of Barbadians and the religious music brings together some of the top gospel artistes from North America, the Caribbean and Barbados. The popularity of the festival is due to the presence of popular international artistes such as Dr.Bobby Jones and Jeff Whi
