Still looking for ways to fit culture into the calendar? Following are some unique ideas for filling up downtime in the Caribbean.
- The Carnival festival season in the Caribbean (usually late winter to early spring) combines pageantry, music and colorful parades with each island’s unique traditions. There is a huge Carnival on St. Thomas each spring, along with a colossal national Carnival celebration in Trinidad and Tobago in February. Aruba’s annual month-long Carnival embraces a spectrum of musical influences—mixing Latin American, European and African styles—and includes brass bands, calypso and dance processions. Other islands with annual Carnival fests include the Cayman Islands, St. Maarten/St. Martin and St. Kitts. If your group is in town, attendees should be sure to join the party.
- A historical smorgasbord awaits in the Dominican Republic, from colonial days all the way back to the age of the dinosaurs. Groups can head to the Alcazar de Colon (Castle of Columbus) in Santo Domingo, built in the 1500s by Columbus’ son Diego and his wife, or the Amber Museum (www.ambermuseum.com) in Puerto Plata, which contains the famed amber mosquito seen in the hit movie Jurassic Park. Private events amid the warm glow of amber are possible as well, as the museum welcomes group gatherings.
- Attendees can discover the artsy side of the Caymans during the annual Cayfest (www.caymanislands.ky) national arts festival, held in spring. The festival features events in Grand Cayman and Cayman Brac that run the gamut of artistic expression, including theater, dance, music, song, poetry readings, an open-mike Culture Jam, and visual arts exhibitions with displays of local art and photography.
- Groups can explore St. Kitts’ sugar industry heritage aboard the St. Kitts Scenic Railway’s (www.stkittsscenicrailway.com) “sugar train.” As the region’s only scenic passenger railway, its three-hour tour covers a 30-mile circular route around the island, including 18 miles by narrow-gauge train and 12 miles on sightseeing buses.
- In Jamaica, local guides will help groups navigate the maze of streets and lanes on the Spanish Town Heritage Walking Tour (www.visitjamaica.com). The tour consists of a half-mile trek around the former capital city of Jamaica (from 1534 to 1872), and sites spotlighted include the historic Cathedral of St. James.
- With roots dating back to the first indigenous tribes, Aruba celebrates Dera Gai (www.aruba.com), which means “burial of the rooster,” every June 24. During the event, also known as St. John’s Day, bonfires are lit to symbolize the way local tribes cleared their fields of the last harvest, a gesture of purification as well as thanks to the gods, while women don yellow flowers from the kibrahacha tree to symbolize nature’s bounty. Traditional song, dance and food are also part of the celebrations, which are held at various locations, including community centers.
- If groups are in Aruba on a Tuesday, they’re in luck. Every Tuesday night, Oranjestad’s Fort Zoutman hosts the Bonbini Festival (www.aruba.com), showcasing the island’s fokloric dance and music talents, along with local arts and crafts and culinary delicacies such as saltfish, funchi (cornmeal mush), pastechi (meat or fish dumplings), and goat soup.
