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Carriacou Regatta Festival
The largest of Grenada's Grenadine islands, a hilly 34 square kilometres north of the main island with its capital at Hillsborough. Long the heart of the region's wooden boatbuilding and sloop-sailing culture, Carriacou keeps a distinct identity of African-rooted Big Drum, string band and shipwright traditions, and hosts the Caribbean's oldest regatta festival each August.
Run by Carriacou Regatta Festival, with published dates and a real program.
Dates & details verified against: Official event site ↗
Why here
The Carriacou Regatta Festival is the longest-running regatta festival in the Caribbean, started in 1965 by the yachtsman J. Linton Rigg as a race for local working boats. Over Emancipation weekend at the start of August, hand-built wooden Carriacou sloops and open workboats race off Hillsborough, crews wading out through the surf to launch them from the beach, joined by vessels from Bequia, Petite Martinique, Grenada and other islands. These are not fibreglass yachts but boats still built on the beaches here by eye, from a tradition brought partly by Scottish shipwrights and kept alive for two centuries, so the racing doubles as a living display of Carriacou's boatbuilding craft. Onshore the festival runs a full fete of string band and quadrille, the African-derived Big Drum Nation Dance, food stalls, a greasy pole out over the water and plenty of rum and soca. It is a small-island celebration where the sailing, the music and the community all belong to the same heritage, and where visitors are welcome rather than herded.
Best months
The regatta runs over Emancipation weekend at the very start of August each year, tied to the first Monday of August public holiday. In 2026 it falls on 31 July to 2 August. Racing depends on wind and sea state and schedules run on island time, so treat published start times as approximate and ask locally on the day. Hillsborough and its guesthouses fill for the weekend, and the ferry and flights from Grenada get busy, so plan travel and a bed well ahead. Days are hot and shade is limited on the waterfront, so bring sun cover and water.
Getting there & around
Carriacou lies about 40 kilometres north of Grenada, reached by a roughly 90-minute passenger ferry from St. George's to Hillsborough or a short flight to Lauriston airstrip. Most regatta events centre on Hillsborough and its beach, walkable once you are there, though some races and fetes spread to other bays. There is no ticket to watch the racing from shore; some fetes and parties charge at the door. Accommodation is limited guesthouses and small inns, so book early for the weekend. Bring cash, as cards are little used outside the main shops.
Skill levels: beginner
Schools & guides (1)
Carriacou Regatta Festival
OrganizerThe Carriacou Regatta Festival is the official body behind the Caribbean's longest-running regatta, first held in 1965 when the yachtsman J. Linton Rigg turned local workboat racing into an organised event. Each Emancipation weekend it stages the traditional Carriacou sloop and workboat races off Hillsborough, drawing hand-built wooden boats from across the southern Grenadines, alongside an onshore programme of string band, Big Drum, food and shore games.