Festivals & Events in Dominica
Dominica hosts major festivals throughout the year that provide a series of exciting activities. Continue...
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Carnival Known as Mas Domnik, it's famous as 'The Caribbean's most original Carnival'!  |
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World Creole Music Festival |
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DiveFest Our festival all about diving! Held in July, the climax is the exciting Carib Canoe Race. |
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Independence Celebrating our Independence, culture & heritage! October-Nov. |
The climaxing week of Carnival presents a packed itinerary. A show is staged almost every week, whether it's the National Queen Show, the Teenage Pageant, the Junior Calypso Monarch, the Soca Fest or the National Calypso Finals. Carnival street bands also prepare for the two days of bacchanal by organizing private fetes.
Dominica Festival of Arts (DOMFESTA), which runs from April to June, showcases theatrical and dance performances, concerts, and artistic workshops geared at developing local artistic expressions.
The Dominica Watersports Association holds its annual Dive Fest at the end of June through to the beginning of July. The event provides whale watching deals, special dive packages snorkeling picnics, canoe racing, and marine educational tours.
In the first week of August, the National Cultural Council and the Cultural Division organize a sequence of events to commemorate Emancipation Day, recognized on August 1st.
But arguably, the World Creole Music Festival (WCMF) is the social extravaganza of the year. It is a weekend of global Creole music held annually at the end of October. As many as five popular bands from different countries perform each night, from the early evening until the twilight of dawn.
The WCMF blends with the island's independence celebrations and visitors to the festival also get a peek of Dominica's traditional cultural kaleidoscope. Dominica commemorates its Independence on November 3rd with a month of traditional cultural activities preceding that date.
Throughout the year, villages remember patron saints by holding feasts. These are usually marked by community shows and competitions. The most popular are Fete Isidore held in Grand Bay and San Sauveur in June and St. Peter's Feast organized by villages along the island's west coast in June and July.
