There is a carnival somewhere in the Caribbean almost every month of the year. If you are building your fete calendar for 2027, this is the overview: when each major carnival usually happens, what it is known for and where St. Thomas fits in.
A quick note before you book: carnival dates are set by each island's organizers and can shift from year to year. Use this calendar to plan, then confirm exact dates with the official carnival committee or tourism board before you buy flights.
January
- St. Croix, USVI: Crucian Christmas Festival. St. Croix's carnival runs from late December into early January, with parades, a food fair and village nights.
- Bahamas: Junkanoo. The big Junkanoo parades happen on Boxing Day, December 26, and New Year's Day, with costumed groups, cowbells and drums through Nassau.
- St. Kitts: Sugar Mas. St. Kitts celebrates its carnival from late November into the first days of January.
February: Trinidad and the pre-Lent carnivals
- Trinidad and Tobago Carnival. The mother of all soca carnivals. Carnival Monday and Tuesday fall on February 8 and 9, 2027, with weeks of fetes, J'ouvert, panorama and soca monarch before it.
- Dominica: Mas Domnik. Dominica's carnival runs on the same Monday and Tuesday before Ash Wednesday and is the home of bouyon.
- Martinique, Guadeloupe and Haiti. The French Caribbean and Haiti also celebrate before Lent, each with its own sound and traditions.
March and April
- Jamaica Carnival. Jamaica's carnival season usually builds after Easter, with the road march and fetes in Kingston. Easter falls on March 28 in 2027.
- St. Thomas, USVI: Virgin Islands Carnival. St. Thomas Carnival takes over the island in late April into early May, with pageants, calypso, a food fair, J'ouvert and parades. It is a tradition that dates back to the early 1950s.
- Soka Elements: Midnight Riot. Our own fete runs 1:00 AM - 7:00 AM on April 29, 2027 at Muse in Charlotte Amalie. Paint, powder, water and six hours of soca. Get tickets here.
- St. Maarten Carnival. St. Maarten's carnival usually runs from April into early May.
May
- Cayman Islands: Batabano. Cayman's carnival weekend usually lands in May.
June and July
- St. Vincent and the Grenadines: Vincy Mas. Usually late June into early July.
- St. John, USVI: St. John Festival. St. John's festival season builds through June and peaks around the Fourth of July.
- St. Lucia Carnival. Usually July, with fetes building through the month and two days of mas on the road.
- British Virgin Islands: Emancipation Festival. Usually late July into early August on Tortola.
- Antigua Carnival. Antigua's summer carnival usually runs from late July to the first Tuesday in August.
August: the big summer stretch
- Barbados: Crop Over. A summer-long festival that ends with Grand Kadooment, usually on the first Monday in August.
- Grenada: Spicemas. Usually in August, famous for its pre-dawn J'ouvert and the Jab Jab masqueraders covered in oil.
- Diaspora carnivals. Toronto's Caribbean carnival, London's Notting Hill Carnival and New York's Labor Day parade bring soca to the world in late summer.
September to December
- Miami Carnival usually happens in October.
- Many islands host independence fetes and smaller festivals in the fall.
- Christmas carnivals in St. Croix, St. Kitts and Montserrat start at the end of the year, and Junkanoo closes it out in the Bahamas.
Questions people ask
What is the biggest carnival in the Caribbean?
Trinidad and Tobago Carnival is widely seen as the biggest and most influential, and it is where soca was born.
What is the best carnival for U.S. travelers?
St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands is the easiest to reach: no passport for U.S. citizens, U.S. dollars and nonstop flights from the East Coast.
When should I book?
As soon as the dates are confirmed. Flights, rooms and early ticket tiers all get more expensive closer to carnival week.
How to plan your carnival year
- Pick one anchor carnival. Choose the big one you want most and build from there.
- Add a close neighbor. Islands like St. Thomas and the BVI, or Trinidad and Tobago, make it easy to stack events.
- Book early. Carnival weeks are the most expensive weeks to fly and stay. The earlier, the better.
- Buy fete tickets in early tiers. Most premium fetes sell in tiers that go up in price.
- Leave recovery days. Carnival is a marathon.
Why St. Thomas belongs on the list
St. Thomas is the easiest carnival in the Caribbean for U.S. travelers to reach. No passport for U.S. citizens, nonstop flights from the East Coast and U.S. dollars everywhere. Read why the Virgin Islands belong on your soca calendar, then start planning with flying to St. Thomas for the fete.
See you on the road.
