What's on in Roseau, Dominica through the year

Busy — Mas Domnik, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

• Festival

  Mas Domnik

  5 Jan – 10 Mar · usuallyCarnivalCrowded

  Dominica calls its carnival the Real Mas and keeps it closer to calypso and sensay costume than to feathers. The season opens in early January and ends with two days on the streets of Roseau before Ash Wednesday. Source ↗

Still on: Sperm whales off the west coast (1 Nov – 31 Mar (usually)), Dry season (15 Dec – 15 May (usually))

Busy — Mas Domnik

Nothing new starts in February.

Still on: Mas Domnik (5 Jan – 10 Mar (usually)), Sperm whales off the west coast (1 Nov – 31 Mar (usually)), Dry season (15 Dec – 15 May (usually))

Busy — Mas Domnik, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in March.

Still on: Mas Domnik (5 Jan – 10 Mar (usually)), Sperm whales off the west coast (1 Nov – 31 Mar (usually)), Dry season (15 Dec – 15 May (usually))

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in April.

Still on: Dry season (15 Dec – 15 May (usually))

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in May.

Still on: Dry season (15 Dec – 15 May (usually))

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

• Hazard

  Hurricane season

  1 Jun – 30 Nov

  Maria crossed the island as a category five in September 2017 and stripped the forest bare; the recovery shaped everything built since. Roseau sits at the mouth of a river valley and floods before the wind does anything. Source ↗

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

Nothing new starts in July.

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

Quiet — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, one of its worst months for weather

Nothing new starts in August.

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

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: Hurricane season (1 Jun – 30 Nov)

Peak crowds — World Creole Music Festival, Independence and Creole season

• Festival

  World Creole Music Festival

  23–25 OctMajor festivalCrowdedBook early

  Three nights of bouyon, zouk and cadence-lypso at Windsor Park in Roseau on the last weekend of October, with fringe events for a fortnight either side. Beds on the island run out well before it. Source ↗

• Holiday

  Independence and Creole season

  25 Oct – 5 NovNational holidayClosuresCrowded

  Independence on the third of November closes the country and the fortnight around it is when madras dress, Kwéyòl and the village food stalls come out properly. It is the local half of the October festival. Source ↗

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

Busy — Independence and Creole season

• Nature

  Sperm whales off the west coast

  1 Nov – 31 Mar · usuallyWhale season

  Family groups of sperm whales live in the deep water a few kilometres off Roseau all year, and the calm winter months are when the boats can find them. Dominica has been putting protections around them.

Still on: Hurricane season (1 Jun – 30 Nov), Independence and Creole season (25 Oct – 5 Nov)

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

• Season

  Dry season

  15 Dec – 15 May · usually

  The one stretch when the Boiling Lake track and the Waitukubuli segments above Roseau are not a mudslide, and the rivers drop enough to cross. Even then the interior makes its own weather by noon.

Still on: Sperm whales off the west coast (1 Nov – 31 Mar (usually))