What's on in Bridgetown (Barbados), Barbados through the year

Shoulder season — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in January.

Busy — Holetown Festival

• Festival

  Holetown Festival

  14–22 Feb · usuallyMajor festivalCrowded

  A week on the west coast marking the first English landing in 1627: a street fair along Highway 1, a police band tattoo, and the road through Holetown closed most evenings. Source ↗

Busy — school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it, one of its best months for weather

• Festival

  Oistins Fish Festival

  3–6 AprEaster & Holy WeekCrowded

  The south-coast fishing town takes Easter weekend over with boat races, fish-boning contests and grilled flying fish until late. The bus down there is the slowest ride on the island that weekend. Source ↗

Busy — Oistins Fish Festival

• Season

  Sargassum on the Atlantic coast

  1 Apr – 30 Sep · usuallySargassum season

  The east and south-east coasts collect the weed through the summer, and the smell as it rots keeps people off Bathsheba and Crane for days. The sheltered west coast is usually clear of it.

Still on: Oistins Fish Festival (3–6 Apr)

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

• Nature

  Hawksbill nesting

  1 May – 31 Oct · usuallyTurtle nesting

  Hawksbills nest along the west and south beaches through the summer. The Barbados Sea Turtle Project runs a 24-hour hotline for stranded hatchlings, and beachfront hotels are asked to kill their lights. Source ↗

Still on: Sargassum on the Atlantic coast (1 Apr – 30 Sep (usually))

Shoulder season — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

• Hazard

  Hurricane season

  1 Jun – 30 Nov

  Barbados sits at the eastern end of the arc, ahead of most storms rather than under them, and is brushed far more often than hit. Mid-August to early October is the part worth watching. Source ↗

• Festival

  Crop Over

  3 Jul – 3 AugCarnivalCrowdedBook early

  The old sugar-harvest festival, now the island's carnival: Bridgetown Market on the wharf, calypso tents through July, then Grand Kadooment on the first Monday of August from the National Stadium to Spring Garden. Source ↗

Still on: Sargassum on the Atlantic coast (1 Apr – 30 Sep (usually)), Hawksbill nesting (1 May – 31 Oct (usually))

Busy — Crop Over, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in July.

Still on: Sargassum on the Atlantic coast (1 Apr – 30 Sep (usually)), Hawksbill nesting (1 May – 31 Oct (usually)), Hurricane season (1 Jun – 30 Nov), Crop Over (3 Jul – 3 Aug)

Busy — Crop Over, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in August.

Still on: Sargassum on the Atlantic coast (1 Apr – 30 Sep (usually)), Hawksbill nesting (1 May – 31 Oct (usually)), Hurricane season (1 Jun – 30 Nov), Crop Over (3 Jul – 3 Aug)

Quiet — school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it, one of its worst months for weather

Nothing new starts in September.

Still on: Sargassum on the Atlantic coast (1 Apr – 30 Sep (usually)), Hawksbill nesting (1 May – 31 Oct (usually)), Hurricane season (1 Jun – 30 Nov)

Quiet — one of its worst months for weather

Nothing new starts in October.

Still on: Hawksbill nesting (1 May – 31 Oct (usually)), Hurricane season (1 Jun – 30 Nov)

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

• Festival

  Independence Day

  30 NovNational holiday

  The parade at the Garrison Savannah on 30 November opens the Christmas season, and the island is in ultramarine and gold for the whole month around it. Source ↗

Still on: Hurricane season (1 Jun – 30 Nov)

Shoulder season — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in December.