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Music & Culture Festivals in Cabarete
Dominican Republic Jazz Festival
The Caribbean's kitesurfing capital since the 1990s, where NE trade winds and afternoon thermals combine on a sheltered bay to produce reliable 15-25 knot conditions from December through July. An international community of instructors, schools, and long-term kite residents has made Cabarete more than a destination, it's an ecosystem.
Run by Fundacion Educativa Dominican Republic Jazz Festival (FEDUJAZZ), with published dates and a real program.
Dates & details verified against: Official event site ↗
Why here
The Dominican Republic Jazz Festival turns the north coast into an open-air stage for a long weekend each year. Founded around 2004 and among the oldest jazz festivals in the Caribbean, it stages free and ticketed concerts on the beach at Cabarete and across Sosua, Puerto Plata and Santiago, mixing Grammy and Latin Grammy winners with Dominican players. It is run by FEDUJAZZ, an education foundation whose proceeds pay for tuition-free music lessons for local children, and the festival week doubles as a set of open workshops in Sosua where those students play alongside visiting artists. Concerts on the sand at sunset, with the trade wind dropping, are the signature image.
Best months
The festival runs over a long weekend and has historically fallen in late October or November, though recent editions have shifted dates, so confirm the current schedule with the organizer before booking. Concerts spread across Cabarete, Sosua, Puerto Plata and Santiago, with beach shows at Cabarete and educational workshops in Sosua. Many events are free; marquee shows are ticketed.
Getting there & around
The festival's home base is Cabarete, about 30 minutes from Puerto Plata airport, with other nights in Sosua, Puerto Plata and Santiago, so a car or arranged transfers help if you want to follow the full programme. Dates and line-ups are announced through the organizer and can land close to the event, so plan flexibly and confirm venues on arrival.
Skill levels: beginner
Schools & guides (1)
Fundacion Educativa Dominican Republic Jazz Festival
OrganizerThe education foundation, known as FEDUJAZZ, that produces the Dominican Republic Jazz Festival, one of the Caribbean's oldest jazz events, staged across Cabarete, Sosua, Puerto Plata and Santiago. Proceeds fund tuition-free music education for more than a hundred Dominican children each year, and the festival pairs concerts by Grammy and Latin Grammy winners with open workshops. The foundation is based on the Cabarete beachfront and runs the event with support from the Ministry of Tourism.