Shown below are the events that take place on the Caribbean island of Barbados on an annual basis.

You can browse our list below for further details of annual events or view our regularly updated Barbados Events Calendar for all upcoming events and activities happening in and about Barbados.

— Today’s Events – View all activities taking place in Barbados Today.

— List of Barbados Events – Look at the Totally Barbados List of Events.

— Recommended Venues – Check out these recommended venues in Barbados.

— Add an Event – Do you want to get more people to your event or activity happening in Barbados?

Annual Events, Activities, and Festivals

January

January in Barbados starts with New Year’s Day, a public holiday to celebrate the start of a new year. New Year’s Day also marks the beginning of the Horse-racing season with the Garrison Savannah races.

Mid-month is the annual Barbados Jazz Festival. This festival attracts many internationally renowned musicians who perform for the week at various venues islandwide, culminating in the final event, Jazz on the Hill, held at Farley Hill National Park. The musicians perform at this beautiful, historical outdoor setting to an audience who happily sit and picnic under the trees’ shade while listening to the soft live jazz.

Round Barbados Sailing Week regatta happens January 17th – 23rd, 2021, in association with Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc. and Mount Gay Rum. Traditionally, the sailing regatta occurs on Errol Barrow Day – a public holiday celebrating the first Prime Minister of Barbados and ‘father of independence.’

At the end of January, the Barbados Music Awards will be held, a red-carpet ceremony to recognize and reward the wealth of talented musicians in Barbados who are now making their way to the international stage.

February

February holds the best-known event in Barbados, the Holetown Festival, which is generally held on the sunny west coast of Barbados in the parish of St. James.

This weeklong celebration is an homage to the first English settlers who came to Barbados in 1627 and held for the last 20-odd years. It combines street fairs, theatrical and musical performances, arts and crafts, history, and a beauty pageant. The Holetown Festival is an event not to be missed.

The Sugar Cane Harvest begins islandwide in February.

March

In late February or early March, the Agrofest, a two-day festival in Queens Park, St. Michael, to celebrate agriculture. There is plenty to do, see and taste, and it is a winner for the children as there is a lot of livestock.

March is exciting, with popular sporting events such as the Sandy Lane Gold Cup horse racing attracting a worldwide crowd. This major event includes a fabulous parade and all the beautiful hats synonymous with World-Class horse racing.

Directly connected with the Sandy Lane Gold Cup is Holders Season, an assemblage of music, comedy, and theater worldwide. This is the one time of year that Broadway comes to Barbados. We’ve even enjoyed hosting Luciano Pavarotti for this fantastic arts festival.

March is also the month when CHUM FM 104.5 comes from Toronto to broadcast live from Barbados at their annual Breakfast in Barbados. They fly in top international acts and stage a concert at Harbour Lights Nightclub on the south coast. We have seen Bryan Adams, Nelly Furtado, Michael Buble, Jann Arden, Hedley, Serena Ryder, and DNCE in recent years.

April

April starts with the Mount Gay / Sagicor Annual Game Fishing Tournament, held over the first weekend.

Thousands of people head to Barbados’ south coast during the Easter holidays to celebrate the annual Oistins Fish Festival. This famous festival of fish attracts locals and visitors alike to support the local fishing community.

The week-long festival and street fair atmosphere begins the weekend before Easter. It ends with various fun and festivities during the Easter weekend, continuing until the Easter Monday bank holiday. The festival is held in the historic Oistins fishing town in Christ Church, in and around the infamous weekly Oistins Fish Fry home.

April 28th is Heroes Day, a public holiday in honor of all of the Barbados National Heroes.

The Barbados Reggae Festival features international performances from local and international reggae artists and is held at Farley Hill National Park.

Since 2018, the Vujaday Music Festival has occurred at various locations around Barbados, where internationally renowned DJs play different house and techno music styles.

May

May is a month of significant sporting events and gets underway with another public holiday. This one is Labour Day, held on May 1st. Besides continuing polo, horse racing, and cricket, May hosts the Barbados Masters and the Barbados Rally Carnival. The Barbados Rally Carnival is a weeklong extravaganza of local and international high-performance vehicles of various class descriptions, racing at different stages throughout the island during the two-day Sol Rally Barbados All-Stage event.

Over the Whitsun weekend, Accra Beach on the south coast hosts the annual Barbados Windfest, a three-day wind and kite surfing competition.

May is also the month of the Celtic Festival, a tribute to the relatively large community of initially Celtic immigrants held in the middle of the month. Shortly after, the Celtic Festival is the Barbados Gospelfest, a premier regional gospel music and culture festival.

June

In June, Habitat heads up an exhibition of various environmental, construction, and home-oriented products and services from local and regional companies. It is held at the Sherbourne Conference Centre.

Later on, in June, we have the Ms. Island Fitness Pageant and the Barbados International Track & Field Classic, hosting local and international athletes competing in track and field events.

At the end of the month is the Bajan Unifest University Sporting Festival, a weeklong culmination of hockey, cricket, netball, football, tennis, and swimming, as well as the university campus and various other locations.

July

July is the beginning of our most significant festival, Cropover, and some major events lead to Grand Kadooment Day in August.

The Cropover celebrations start with the Opening Gala in Queen’s Park, Bridgetown. Pic-o-de-crop semi-finals happen in the middle of the month, with the finals the following week.

Pic-o-de-crop competes for the best of the year’s new calypso songs. The songs are judged on technicalities by professionals in the music industry, as opposed to the Party Monarch and Roadmarch competitions, which are songs chosen by the general public for the best party song and the song that’s best on the road, Kadooment Day.

The last Saturday of the month is Foreday Morning, a giant street party held in Independence Square from midnight to sunrise. The following day is Bridgetown Market, a favorite Bajan tradition over the Cropover season.

This is the most prominent street fair of the year, where a significant part of the Spring Garden Highway is shut down to motor vehicles and opened up to pedestrians and local artisans peddling their fayre. Local crafts and food are in no short supply at the Bridgetown market; it’s just one big “lime.”

August

August is synonymous with Grand Kadooment Day, the first Monday of the month, which is the culmination of the Crop Over Festival, and it’s merely one massive street party with soca and calypso tunes.

Various bands, each with a particular theme and dressed in colorful, vibrant, skimpy costumes, accumulate early in the morning at the Stadium.

They cross the stage and perform a beautiful parade celebrating our fascinating culture. The bands are assembled from the local community and foreigners who all want to “jump up” – a term used to describe following the group through the byways and down to the Spring Garden Highway in the continuous parade of colorful costumes flare.

The procession then ends on the highway, where most of the stalls from the previous Bridgetown Market are still providing delicious fare to feed the masses. This year, the Emancipation Day Holiday is celebrated on August 1st. Here, we recognize and celebrate the emancipation of the African Slaves brought to our country to work on the sugar plantations.

Later in the month is the Barbados Hockey Federation Banks Hockey Festival, a week of fabulous hockey played by many international teams from Europe, the UK, and North America, accentuated by Bajan warmth and culture. Also in August is the Barbados Amateur Bodybuilding and Fitness Federation Championships.

September

September is a quiet break after the hectic cultural events of August.

However, the Sizzlin’ Sand Beach Volleyball National Tour Open, which includes various local teams competing for the national championship, is highlighted. This goes on over two weekends at one of our beautiful local beaches.

September is also the beginning of the National Independence Festival of Creative Arts (NIFCA), another local festival celebrating the fine arts.

Local artists compete in drama, music, dance, photography, fine art, sculpture, pottery, craft, and painting for three months as their talent is displayed at various venues islandwide. The finalists in each category are showcased in one central place throughout November.

October

October starts with the annual Sagicor Run/Ride for Life, a two-day event promoting health and fitness.

Mid-month, we have the Barbados National Surfing Championships. Local surfers of varying ages and abilities compete in different fields for the national championship, a prelude to the international tournaments held in November.

October also hosts the Sun, Sea, and Slams Bridge Tournament and the Blowin’ in the Windies Youth Jazz Festival, featuring bands from the UK, Caribbean, USA, and Canada.

Towards the end of the month, there is the Barbados Music Festival, where rock, reggae, blues, and folk bands are flown in from the UK to perform with local Barbadian groups at various venues on the island. This then culminates with all bands playing at an all-day festival.

The Barbados Food and Rum Festival will be held from Thursday, October 22nd, to Sunday, October 25th, 2020.

The month is rounded up with the Home Show held at Sir Erskine Lloyd Sandiford Centre, a showcase of all sorts of local products related to building, decorating, and maintaining a home.

November

November, the month of Independence, appropriately starts with the Sagicor Life Lighting Ceremony and Bajan Folk Brew. All the decorative lights throughout Bridgetown are lit to signify the beginning of the celebratory holiday season.

The weekend of November 4th and 5th hosts the Independence Pro Surfing Championships and Banks Pro Long Board Classic at Bathsheba, surfing at the Soup Bowl. This two-day international surfing competition attracts many of the world’s most famous surfers.

November also has the Sir Fred Rumsey Cricket Festival, National Fun Walk, Barbados Cycling Classic International, and Barbados Open Championship Golf, not to mention all the various Independence celebrations that go on islandwide, such as the Spirit of Independence Tour, the NIFCA gala, and the Spirit of the Nation Show, all leading up to the Independence Day holiday on November 30th.

December

Rugby Barbados – The World 7s 2018 will be held at Kensington Oval in Bridgetown on Saturday, December 8th, and Sunday, December 9th.

December hits the ground running with the Run Barbados Marathon, 1/2 Marathon, 10K, and 4K Walk, with runners from over 30 countries entering the competition.

December is also the official start of the Polo season. Polo is a popular and ever-expanding local sport with events every Sunday through the season, from December through to May.

December is also a very merry month as Christmas approaches. Christmas Day, December 25th, and Boxing Day (December 26th)  are Public Holidays.

Old Year’s Night, December 31st, is a huge party night in Barbados. Most people pull out all the stops, wearing suits and evening gowns accessorized by champagne to celebrate the end of the year and the beginning of a new one!