Tobago's biggest festivals and events

 

There are Sunday harvest festivals in one of the island’s villages every month, where villagers share food and drink and communal celebration. Fisherman’s festivals take place in the coastal villages during the year, mainly on St Peter’s Day (June 29). Both events begin with church services in the morning and end with eating, drinking, and partying in the night!

 

Tobagonians enjoy a Carnival season that is more laid back than the sister isle’s, and focuses more on the theatrical and folk elements of Carnival. Most play traditional mud mas (said to be therapeutic for the skin) – which of course necessitates an ocean swim afterwards. The THA’s Inter-department Queen and Calypso Show, and the Roxborough Afro-Queen and Windward Calypso Show, are staple seasonal events.

 

At Easter time, only Friday and Monday are official holidays, but Easter Tuesday is not really a day for work in Tobago: everyone heads to Buccoo for the Family Day and Goat and Crab Races. There is special training for the goat ‘jockeys’, and a track has been constructed especially for this race; even Virgin Atlantic’s Richard Branson has taken part. The Festival has been hosted in Buccoo for nearly 80 years, and in fact is so nice it’s done twice: first from Easter Sunday to the following Tuesday, and then again for the Heritage Festival mid-year.

The Tobago Jazz Experience replaced April’s Plymouth Jazz Festival in 2009. While it still has international headliners as part of the show, like its predecessor, the new focus is more on local, regional, and “world music” artists. A few shows are free, and there is a Caravan feature which takes some performances to different villages around Tobago.

 

Produced each May by the Tourism Department of the THA, this free international culinary event invites you to sample dishes from around the world, and especially those native to Tobago, all in the beautiful and relaxed environment of Pigeon Point.

 

The Heritage Festival (July) is the premier cultural event on the island, with a new theme every year. Each village produces an event showcasing the island’s unique mores and traditions in dance, music, cuisine, story-telling, drama and more. The festival serves not only as an entertainment event, but a way of teaching and passing on communal values and customs.

 

The Great Race (August) is a major event that draws Trinidadians to Tobago in droves. First held in 1969, this 84-mile speed-boat race from Trinidad’s Gulf of Paria to Crown Point in Tobago ends in the ultimate beach party (which starts well before the boats reach the finish line and ends in the wee hours of the next morning). The race starts early in the morning, and the first boats normally arrive at about 9am on the beach.

 

This October event brings the whole island to Bloody Bay on the northwest coast. A truly unique culinary experience, it sees the dasheen plant – all of it – used to prepare all kinds of mouth-watering dishes, including bread, cookies, lasagne, and even ice-cream. The festival takes place in the countryside amidst the lush green forest of the Main Ridge, and includes a culinary competition, a cultural show, a mini zoo and sometimes a queen show.