Antigua Carnival
Jul 28-Aug 07, 2012
Barbados Crop Over Festival  Jun 30-Aug 6, 2012
Bermuda Music Festival
Oct - (TBA)
Dominican Merengue Festival
Jul 29-31, 2012
Dominican Republic Jazz Festival - Nov 2012 (TBA)
20th Jamaica Reggae Sumfest
Jul 15-21, 2012
Puerto Rico Heineken Jazzfest -  Mar 29 - Apr 1, 2012
St Lucia Jazz Festival
April 30 - 13, 2012
St Lucia Carnival
May 28-Jul 17, 2012
St. Vincent/ Grenadines Vincy Carnival
Jun 29-Jul 10, 2012
Dominica World Creole Fest
Oct 26-28, 2012
St Kitts/Nevis Music Festival
Jun 28-30, 2012
Grenada  Carriacou Regatta 
Jul 29, 2012
Trinidad Festival of Lights
Nov 13, 2012
Trinidad Carnival
Feb 17-22, 2012
Tobago Heritage Festival
Jul 16-Aug 1, 2012
Trinidad Emancipation Day  Aug 1, 2012
Trinidad Great Fete Weekend
Jul 25-29, 2012
Trinidad -Leatherback Turtle Conservation - Aug  2012
Barbados Holetown Festival
Feb 12-19, 2012
Barbados  Oistins Fish Festival
April 7- 9, 2012
St Martin/St. Maarten Carnival Apr 19-May 2, 2012
North Sea Curacao Jazz Festival
Jul 6-8, 2012
St. Kitts/Nevis Carnival
Nov 23-Jan 3, 2012
Junkanoo Carnival  - Nassau
Dec 26, 2012 & Jan 1, 2013
Bahamas, Nassau
Emancipation Day  Aug 4, 2012
St John, USVI Emancipation & American Independence Day
July 3 -4, 2012
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Trinidad's Carnival is the true definition of  "street party"  -  Five days leading up to Ash Wednesday, all vehicles are banished from center of Port of Spain. All Caribbean islands have Carnival celebrations, however Trinidad takes CARNIVAL to another level of celebration.
Reggae Sumfest, Montego, Jamaica is the Reggae event of  the Summer held annually in July. Visitors travel from other Caribbean Islands, the US, Canada, England and Europe.
Trinidad's Divali, or Festival of  Lights, is one of the most anticipated events in Trinidad. Although a Hindu festival, it is national holiday observed by people of all religions. The entire island is lit by candlelight  during the festival, and prayers are offered.
*Junkanoo Carnival Party - Nassau, Bahamas
You can't resist the beat of the goat drum as the drummers call out for Junkanoo to begin.
Planning a vacation in conjunction with Caribbean Island Festivals or Carnivals is an opportunity to experience cultural aspects of the island, and have an enjoyable time. TBA = To Be Announced by Organizers
Description of  Popular Festivals
Listing by Month
Jamaican Musician plays drum before the Raggae Sumfest in Montego Bay. Raggae Sumfest is the Reggae event of the summer. Visitors travel from other Caribbean islands, the US, Canada, England and Europe. You can party and dance from July 20 straight to the 26th of July.
Music Festival Singer performs at Jamaica Caribbean Music Expo in Ocho Rios, Jamaica. There are many exhibitors, artists and beach parties during and after the Music Expo.
The St Lucia Jazz festival is one of the more popular music festivals in the Caribbean with top notch musicians from all over the world. Most of the visitors come from the US and Canada. The only other two jazz festivals that are as well attended are Puerto Rico Jazz Festival and the Barbados Jazz Festival. Air Jamaica and BET are the two main sponsors of the caribbean jazz festival.
Trinidad is the Caribbean island where Carnival was invented
Although a Hindu Festival, Trinidad's Festival of Lights is a national holiday observed by people of all religions. The entire island is lit by candlelight, and prayers are offered. The Festival of Lights, or Divali, is one of the most anticipated events on the island of Trinidad. The festival is an annual events and starts on October 25th of each year.
Jazz Sax Player performs during Barbados Jazz Festival. Barbados has one of the best attended jazz festivals along with St Lucia and Puerto Rico. Each year top name entertainment flocks to the island for the week long festivities. Top name performers such as Alicia Keys are always in attendance, and the 2005 festival was a tremendous success.
Curacao dancer displays colorful dress during the Curacao Jazz Festival held in may of every year. Curacao is home to the most diverse population in the Caribbean, and therefore has a diverse array of music and entertainment.
Merengue dancers take to the street of Santo Domingo during the Dominican Merengue Festival. The festival is a week long celebration, and the best parties are right in the streets. Top name Merengue Bands appear.
Jazz festival performer at Bermuda Jazz Festival, held at Navy Dockyard every year during October.
Dominica Diving Festival
July 6-15, 2012
Cayman Islands Diving Festival attracts divers from around the world. The annual dive festival lasts for seven weeks and starts every year in September.
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Festival and Carnival dates can change
from year to year due to a number of circumstances

E-mail for more information on any Caribbean island festival or carnival
Aruba Caribbean Carnival
Jan 7-Feb 21, 2012
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Caribbean Carnivals not
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There's nothing quite like the Caribbean !
Havana Int'l  Jazz Festival
Cuba - Dec 16-24, 2012
*Havana's Jazz Festival is an internationally renowned event that takes place every two years. Festival consistently attracts an excellent line-up, with gigs at many venues around the city.
Parang Season Festival
Trinidad - Sept - Dec (TBA)
Festival of Lights,Trinidad - Young girls preparing for celebration
Performer at Bermuda Jazz
Festival
Diver explores reefs - Cayman Dive Festival
St Lucia Jazz Festival - May
Curacao Jazz Festival Parade
Reggae Sumfest
Drummer
Barbados Jazz
Festival - Jan
Merengue Festival  Dancers
Caribbean
Music Expo
Trinidad Carnival
Heineken Aruba Catamaran Regatta  - Nov (TBA)
Nine Mornings Festival
St. Vincent & the Grenadines
Dec 16-25, 2012
New Year Sailing Regatta
Bahamas  - Jan 1, 2012
Foxy Wooden Boat Regatta
B.V.I. May 25–27, 2012
58th Annual Billfish Tournament Puerto Rico - Sept 23-30, 2012
Aruba Soul Beach Music Festival - May 23-28, 2012
British Virgin Island Musicfest - Tortola - May 25-27, 2012
Fisherman's Birthday Celebration
Grenada - Jun 29, 2012
Falmouth Blue Marlin Tournament -
Jamaica  - Sept  (TBA)
*New Years Sailing Regatta starts off  the coast of Nassau's Montagu Bay.  30 - 40 ships compete in three classes. The event is a  spectacle for visitors,  and is  followed with great enthusiasm by the residents.
Batabano Carnival - Caymans
(TBA)
St Lucia Marguerite Festival
Oct , 17, 2012
Santa Rosa Festival
Trinidad and Tobago -
Aug 8-12, 2012
The Rose Festival
St Lucia - Aug 30, 2012
Market Vendors Feast
St Lucia  - Aug, 2012
Grenada's August Carnival is unique with the Shakespeare Masin which brightly dressed Peirrots engage in a battle of wits using only lines from Shakespearean plays. Carnival in Carriacou climaxes with two days of street parades and various competitions among calypsonians and masquerade bands.
Foxy's Wooden Boat Regatta, held annually on the smallisland of Jost Van Dyke, is one of the biggest eventsin the British Virgin Islands. It is a competitionthat allows wooden boats to rule the waves in an agewhere fibreglass and speed dominates.
British Virgin Island Regatta
*Christmas Festival on Montserrat celebrates the birth of Jesus, and carnival merrymaking and a general atmosphere of goodwill. Families abroad reunite with loved ones at home to enjoy the festivities.
Montserrat Christmas Festival
Dec 25,26,27 & 31, 2012
San Sebastian Street Festival
San Juan - Jan 12-15, 2012
Jamaica International Jazz Festival - Jun 1-30, 2012
Caribbean Music Expo - Ocho Rios
Sept 2012 (TBA)
Eleuthera, Bahamas
Pineapple Festival
The St Lucia Jazz Festival is the crown jewel of BET Jazz produced caribbean festivals with an expansive ten days of programming at various island venues including Pigeon Island national park. The park is a lovely, rolling acres of green grass overlooking the beautiful Caribbean Sea.
St Lucia Jazz Festival Crowd. Smooth jazz overlooking the sea.
Haile Selassie Anniversary Crowning - Nov 2, 2012 (International) Jamaica
The date of the coronation of Haile Selassie I, former Emperor of Ethiopia and central figure of the Rastafarian faith, is celebrated by Rastafarians throughout the world as one of the most sacred days of their calendar. Most Rastas in the Caribbean are on the island of Jamaica.
Haile Selassie Anniversary Crowning most sacred day for Rastafarians worldwide - Nov
Barbados Holders Festival
Mar 17-31, 2012
Run Barbados
Dec 7-9, 2012
Caymans Pirates Week
Nov  8-18, 2012
Breadfruit Festival -  Bath,  Jamaica - Aug 2012
Crop Over, a five-week summer festival, is Barbados most popular and colourful carnival festival. It's origins can be traced back to a time when Barbados was the world's largest producer of sugar. At the end of the sugar season, there was always a huge celebration to mark the end of another successful sugar cane harvest - the Crop Over celebration.
*Nine Mornings Festival - Christmas celebrations begin early in St Vincent. From 16 December people get up in the early hours and parade through the streets of Kingstown in seasonal attire.
Christmas celebrations in The Bahamas would not be complete without Junkanoo bands "rushing" in the streets. Venture down to Bay Street in Nassau during the early morning hours of Boxing Day (the day after Christmas) and New Year's Day and behold this cornucopia of color and sound. The darkness of the early morning adds to the bewitching atmosphere. Overhead streetlights highlight the hues of the costumes and banners intricately designed and patterned from minute strips of crepe paper of all colors glued to clothing, cardboard and wood.
Junkanoo Festival in the Bahamas. The parade is held twice - once on Dec 26th and again on Jan 1st
The Cayman Pirates Festival officially begins on a Friday, but there is a traditional Thursday "Kick Off" party at the Royal Palms site on Seven Mile Beach from 9pm to 2 am. Live bands, giveaways, plenty to eat and drink, and free admission.
Cayman Pirates Week Kickoff party on seven mile beach.
Breadfruits are a staple food in many Caribbean and tropical islands. They are very rich in starch, and before being eaten they are roasted, baked, fried or boiled. The taste is described as potato-like. The Jamaica Breadfruit festival is the only festival in the Caribbean that celebrates the breadfruit.
Jamaica Breadfruit Festival - Aug
St Thomas Carnival
Apr 22-28, 2012
Caribbean Festivals and Caribbean Carnivals are an expression of each island's culture and ethnic background. Music, Dance, Colorful Costumes, Parades, and Island Cuisine are all on display during these events.
Anguilla Tranquility Jazz Fest
Nov  12-15, 2012
National Wari Festival
Antigua/Barbuda
Oct 2012 (TBA)
Dance Festival - All Month Sept
St Vincent & The Grenadines
The tiny island of Eleuthera in the Bahamas celebrates a Pineapple Festival in June of every year. The pineapple is an important export product for Eleuthera, and one of the most popular festivals on the island. The festival has parades, lots of food and vendor booths, along with the favorite fruit of the day - the pineapple.
Barbados claims to have the world's greatest street party and world's longest Congaline. During the April celebration, thousands of dancers form a huge congaline across the island. Take comfortable shoes, cause you'll have miles to "Conga".
Nevis Culturama
Jul 21-Aug 2, 2012
Moonsplash Music Festival Anguilla
Mar 8-11, 2012
Dominica Carnival
Feb 20-21, 2012
On the island of Montserrat, St. Patrick's Day is celebrated for St. Patrick, patron saint of Ireland. March 17 is also the day on which the island’s slaves staged a revolt and marched on Government House. Calypso, soca, iron band music along with masquerades, and wearing green and the shamrock as an emblem.
Montserrat St Patrick Day Festival
Guadeloupe's Festival of Women Cooks. All the women try to out due each other with their recipes, and are pleased for you to taste their cooking. Many excellent cooks on Guadeloupe, eat your way across the island.
Festival of Women Cooks - Guadeloupe
Turks and Caicos Conch Festival - Nov  2012 (TBA)
St. Maarten Heineken Regatta
Mar 1-4, 2012
Barbados Gospelfest 2012
May 19-27, 2012
St Thomas, USVI Carnival
Apr 17- May 7, 2012
Grenada Carnival
Aug 10-14, 2012
Aruba St Nicholas Day
Dec  5, 2011
International Caribbean Guitar Festival in
Martinique 
St Lucia Creole Day
Oct  29, 2012 
Dominica World Creole Music Festival is one of most prominent festivals in the Caribbean. The tiny island gets plenty crowded hosting Creole singers, dancers, and visitors from around the world.
Dominica World Creole Music Festival - Nov
Every two years, Martinique'hosts an international guitar festival, attracting musicians and spectators from all over the world
Slave Uprising Day
Curacao Aug 17, 2012
Curacao Day
July 26, 2012
Montserrat St Patrick's Celebration 
Mar 9-18, 2012
Antigua Sailing Week
Apr 19-May 2, 2012
Antigua Regatta
Apr 19-24, 2012
book caribbean island tours and island activities in advance
Aruba Soul Beach Festival
The weather, sun, concerts, shows, beach and people continue to make this annual Memorial Day the event of the summer.
British Virgin Island Music Fest - This three day extravaganza is one the whole family will enjoy. The British Virgin Islands Mocko Jumbie troupe opens the Caribbean fest, and music genres include calypso, fungi, reggae, rhythm & blues, soul, jazz, soca, steel pan, rap and rock. Enter the sand castle contest!
USVI Lifestyle/Music Fest -
St Thomas & St Croix -
Jul (TBA)
Barbados Crop Over Festival
Tobago Jazz Festival
Apr 21-29, 2012
Dominican Soul Siesta
May 25-29, 2012
Islands of the World Fashion Showcase - Bahamas
May 4-5, 2012
Caribbean Fashion Week -
Jamaica - Jun 1-30, 2012
Cayman Islands Marathon
Dec 2, 2012
Anguilla reggae star Bankie Banx is the organizer of the islands wildest music festival. For over 15 years, Moonsplash has become Anguilla's biggest weekend festival held at Rendezvous Bay.
Tobago's Plymouth Jazz Festival is one of the islands biggest events of the year. Festival attracts many leading blues musicians and jazz artists to the island.
Curaçao North Sea Jazz Festival will be held in the World Trade Center in Piscadera Bay. John Legend, Sergio Mendes, George Benson, Michel Camilo Trio, La India, and Luis Enrique are scjeduled to perform.
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Martinique Jazz Festival
Nov - Dec 2012
Annual Curacao Salsa Tour Festival. There are dance shows and workshops in Willemstad and across the island and top salsa band and dance shows come from all over the world.
Holetown Festival, Barbados
Upcoming Featured Festivals
Caribbean Fashion Week, region's largest and most prestigious fashion event. Top designers from across the Caribbean showcase the latest trends and creative styles.
Carnival in St.Kitts is unique in many ways. It's the only one in the Caribbean that blends the spirit of Christmas with the colorful display of the nation's culture and African heritage.
Trinidad Independence Day - Aug 31, 2012
Puerto Rico Urban Fiesta Weekend
May 24-28, 2012
Ocho Rios Jazz Festival
Jun - (TBA)
St. Lucia Food and Rum Festival -  gastronomic event that showcases the diverse nature of Caribbean food and the excellence of Caribbean rum. Caribbean and international chefs, rum connoisseurs,
Anguilla Tranquility Jazz and Golf Festival
Once a year the normally serene and languid island of Anguilla bursts onto the scene as a paragon of culture and music
Barbados Food & Wine & Rum Fest
Nov 2012 (TBA)
Bahamas International
Film Festival - Dec 6-9, 2012
Reggae Marathon,
Half Marathon & 10K
Negril, Jamaica - Dec 1, 2012
Annual Jamaica Invitational Pro-Am NIKE GOLF -
Dec 5-9, 2012
Maskanoo 2012  Turks & Caicos
Dec 26, 2012
Stir It Up Film & Music Festival 
Aug - Sept, 2012  (TBA)
Tobago Int'l Cycling Classic
Sep 25 -30, 2012
Aruba Caribbean Sea Jazz Festival
Oct 4-7, 2012
25th Annual Pro Am Regatta
British Virgin Islands
Oct  27 - Nov 3, 2012
Nassau Cup Ocean Race
Nov 8, 2012
Carriacou Parang Festival  Grenada
Dec 22-23, 2012
Annual Antigua/Barbuda
Charter Yacht Show
Dec 2-8, 2012
Teeth of the Dog
Twosome Championship
Dominican Republic
Dec 2012 (TBA)
Nassau Cup starts in South Florida, and the finish line is in Nassau harbor. Since 1934, some of the best offshore sailors in the world have battled for the prestigious Miami to Nassau Cup
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Curacao Carnival
Jan 7-Feb 21, 2012 
Antigua De Jam Fest
Sept 21-28, 2012
St Lucia Food & Rum Festival
Oct 30-Nov 2, 2012 
Hike Barbados
Oct 7-28, 2012
Curacao Salsa Tour 2012
Aug 1-5, 2012
BVI Carrot Bay Fest
Aug 9-12, 2012
Festival of Women Cooks Guadeloupe - Aug - (TBA)
Montserrat Cudjoe Head Celebration
Aug 3-4, 2012
Anguilla Summer Festival
Aug 3-12, 2012
Jamaica 50th Anniversary
Aug 6, 2012
Tobago Underwater Carnival 2012
Jul 22-29, 2012
BVI Emancipation Fest
Jul 27-Aug 12, 2012 
Montserrat Calabash Festival
Jul 18-25, 2012
Puerto Rico Salsa Congress
Jul 21-28, 2012 
Sol Rally Barbados 2012
Jun 09-10, 2012
Heineken Light Caribbean LASER Championships - St Martin
Jun 12-13, 2012
Month-Long St John USVI Fest
Jun 1-30, 2012
Treasure Cay Bahamas Billfish Tournament - Jun 10-15, 2012
3rd Annual Crabfest Turks & Caicos
Jun 22-23, 2012
Treasure Beach Jazz Escape
Jamaica - Jun 1-30, 2012
Jamaica Int'l Kite Festival
Apr 1-30, 2012
St. Croix Food & Wine Experience
Apr 15-21, 2012 
SVG Gospel Fest
Apr 1-29, 2012
Jamaica Jazz & Blues Festival
Jan 26-28, 2012
JAMFEST Spring Break
Mar 1-31, 2012
Jamaica Fat Tire Festival
Feb 1-28, 2012
Leatherback Watching in Tobago
Mar 1-Aug 31, 2012
Bahamas Music Fest Island Jam
Feb 3-6, 2012 -
Grenada Sailing Festival
Jan 27-31, 2012 -
Bacchanal Jamaica Carnival
Feb 24-Mar 20, 2012 
Mustique Blues Festival
Jan 25-Feb 8, 2012 -

*Dominica World Creole Music Festival  is one of most prominent festivals in the Caribbean. The tiny island gets plenty crowded hosting Creole singers, dancers, and visitors from around the world.
The Reggae Marathon & Half Marathon is Jamaica's premier International Marathon Event. Marathoners, sports enthusiasts as well as beginners, converge in Negril, Jamaica's capital of casual, for a fun event characterized by good vibes and lots of Reggae music.
During Aruba's Caribbean Sea Jazz Festival showcases perrformers on three different stages and areas
Moonsplash Music Festival Anguilla
Mar 8-11, 2012
Moonsplash is held over the full moon weekend in March at the Dune Preserve beach bar on Rendezvous Bay. The festival starts on Thursday with a day of fun on the beach followed by the official party at the Dune Preserve on Rendezvous Bay that evening. Daytime activities continue on the beach on Friday and Saturday with live bands and games. Moonsplash ends on Sunday with a Grand Beach party.
the premier latin jazz event in the Caribbean
Puerto Rico Heineken Jazzfest -  Mar 29 - Apr 1, 2012
Junkanoo is festival in the Bahamas that starts early in the morning of December 26. Thousands of locals dance through Nassau's Bay Street. The festival is full of colorful costumes, and the sound of goat skin drums, cow bells, and brass horns.
Junkanoo Carnival in the Bahamas- Festival starts early in the morning the day after Christmas
St Lucia Jazz Festival - Held at Pigeon Island. One of the top Jazz festivals in the Caribbean featuring top notch recording artists from the U.S. and Caribbean region.
Aruba Soul Beach FestivalThe weather, sun, concerts, shows, beach and people continue to make this annual Memorial Day the event of the summer.
Crop Over, a five-week summer festival, is Barbados most popular and colourful carnival festival. It's origins can be traced back to a time when Barbados was the world's largest producer of sugar. At the end of the sugar season, there was always a huge celebration to mark the end of another successful sugar cane harvest - the Crop Over celebration.
The Merengue Festival in Puerto Plata attracts performers and enthusiasts from all over Latin America, the United States and the rest of the world. Considered the national dance of the Dominican Republic, the merengue dance and music has a rich and colorful history which led to this popular celebration.
Moonsplash is held over the full moon weekend in March at the Dune Preserve beach bar on Rendezvous Bay. The festival starts on Thursday with a day of fun on the beach followed by the official party at the Dune Preserve on Rendezvous Bay that evening. Daytime activities continue on the beach on Friday and Saturday with live bands and games. Moonsplash ends on Sunday with a Grand Beach party.
Barbados Holetown Festival - Always celebrated in February
The St Lucia Rose Festival consists of all night singing and dancing.