What's on in Palm Beach (Aruba beaches), Aruba through the year

Peak crowds — Aruba Carnival, Winter high season

• Festival

  Aruba Carnival

  5 Jan – 20 Feb · usuallyCrowdedBook early

  The season opens on 11 November at eleven minutes past eleven, but the parades that matter run through January and February and finish with the Grand Parade through Oranjestad on the Sunday before Ash Wednesday. Hotels price accordingly. Source ↗

Still on: Winter high season (15 Dec – 15 Apr)

Peak crowds — Aruba Carnival, Winter high season

Nothing new starts in February.

Still on: Aruba Carnival (5 Jan – 20 Feb (usually)), Winter high season (15 Dec – 15 Apr)

Peak crowds — National Anthem and Flag Day, Winter high season

• Holiday

  National Anthem and Flag Day

  18 MarNational holidayCrowded

  Aruba's national day brings a folkloric show on Plaza Betico Croes in Oranjestad, food stalls and bolas criollas tournaments. Government offices and many shops close for the day. Source ↗

Still on: Winter high season (15 Dec – 15 Apr)

Busy — Winter high season

Nothing new starts in April.

Still on: Winter high season (15 Dec – 15 Apr)

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in May.

Peak crowds — Aruba Summer Music Festival, Aruba Hi-Winds

• Festival

  Aruba Summer Music Festival

  24 Jun – 1 Jul · usuallyCrowdedBook early

  Two nights of salsa, merengue and reggaeton headliners at an arena in Oranjestad in the last week of June, which pulls in visitors from Venezuela, Colombia and around the region. Source ↗

• Festival

  Aruba Hi-Winds

  25 Jun – 10 Jul · usuallySporting eventCrowded

  Five days of windsurfing and kiteboarding at Fisherman's Huts, at the north end of this beach, with the kite classes sailed round at Boca Grandi. The trade wind that makes it possible is the reason the island's beaches never feel still. Source ↗

Peak crowds — Aruba Summer Music Festival, Aruba Hi-Winds

Nothing new starts in July.

Still on: Aruba Summer Music Festival (24 Jun – 1 Jul (usually)), Aruba Hi-Winds (25 Jun – 10 Jul (usually))

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

Nothing new starts in August.

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

• Festival

  Aruba Art Fair

  11–13 SepArts festival

  Three days when San Nicolas, a 25-minute drive from the Palm Beach hotels, fills with new murals painted live, open galleries and street performance. A good reason to leave the beach in the quietest month. Source ↗

Quiet — one of its worst months for weather

Nothing new starts in October.

Busy — Aruba Open beach tennis

• Festival

  Aruba Open beach tennis

  5–25 Nov · usuallySporting eventCrowded

  One of the biggest beach tennis tournaments on the ITF tour takes over Bushiri Beach for a week, with over a thousand players entered and free spectating from the sand. Source ↗

Busy — Winter high season, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

• Season

  Winter high season

  15 Dec – 15 AprWinter-sun seasonCrowdedBook early

  The strip of high-rise hotels behind this beach runs full from mid-December to April, when North America wants out of the cold. Loungers go early, restaurants want a booking, and the rates roughly double. Source ↗

• Festival

  Dande Festival

  24–31 Dec · usuallyMusic festival

  The New Year song contest keeps alive the island tradition of groups with tambu drum and wiri going house to house after midnight to sing good luck for the year. Held in the last week of December. Source ↗