If you’re traveling to Saint Lucia Carnival 2025, here’s everything you need to know. Saint Lucia stands out with it’s dennery, bouyon-like music, energetic locals, Kwéyòl patois, gorgeous green landscape against beautiful beaches and is definitely a cultural experience that cannot be missed. Here’s a bit of a beginner’s guide to Saint Lucia Carnival if you’re planning to go.
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What Is Saint Lucia Carnival?
According to CarnivalSaintLucia.com, the official Caribbean carnival started in Saint Lucia in 1947.
It is a series of cultural events such as Panorama, pageants, Jr. Carnival, Calypso Monarch, King & Queen shows, culminating into a 2 day parade and neighboring parades across the island of Saint Lucia.
Where?
Saint Lucia Carnival has an extensive carnival calendar starting as early as several months beforehand. They actually have a collective of carnival celebrations from April to end of July.
When?
The typical dates for Lucian Vaval are usually the 2nd or 3rd week with Carnival Monday and Last Lap on the Tuesday. Dates for 2025 are as follows:
Carnival Monday is Monday July 21st, 2025
Day 2/Last Lap is Tuesday July 22nd, 2025
It’s recommended to travel at least a week before hand to catch the fringe/private and national events as well as to fit in some sightseeing.
Recommended airports are SLU and UVF; just note that UVF is approximately and hour and change drive to the Castries/Gros Islet area. (refer to map)
Carnival Costumes
Here’s a list of carnival bands that offer costumes for Saint Lucia Carnival.
- Just 4 Fun Carnival
- Fuzion Mas
- Island Tribe Carnival
- Legends Carnival
- Red Carnival Band (Unlimited Red)
- Tribe of Twel
- Xuvo Carnival
- Scandal Mas
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Saint Lucian Music
One aspect of Saint Lucia Carnival that makes it unique from other carnivals is Dennery segment or Lucian Kuduro- a fast paced (categorized by 140 BPM or more), energetic music that portrays the spirit and inspire vigorous dancing, antics etc.
Here are some examples of Saint Lucian music that can get you accustomed to what to expect (not all are necessarily Dennery segment):
- Clock Out By Imran Nerdy
- Pop It (feat. BlackBoy, Messi)
- Start D Party – Imran Nerdy
- Hello Carnival by Ezra D’ Funmachine (feat. Tori Elle)
- Balance by Boogy Ranks, Freezy Madrass (feat. Bronx & Mata)
- Kedek Kedek by Mighty
- Flowers by Shemmy J
Playing With Just 4 Fun Carnival Band (2024 experience)
I was invited to be a Just 4 Fun ambassador and registered in the La Vie En Rose section. Please note that Just4Fun Carnival also has a VVIP section which comes with a lot of perks as a masquerader such as ultra platinum service, costume delivery and/or VIP costume pick up as well as a designated music and food truck for VVIP masqueraders.
During the countdown to Vaval, Just 4 Fun posted daily on stories and to their various pages and did frequent Q&A sessions if masqueraders had inquiries about events, costume payments, deposits and so on. One thing I noted is that they are consistent with communication when it comes to their masqueraders from beginning to end. Costume pick up was pretty smooth for me and here’s a look at everything that was included in my package:
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Arrival & Accommodations
I arrived at UVF airport and it was literally an hour and a half drive to WindJammer Landing which is a beach villa resort close to the festivities. I stayed in a one bedroom villa with kitchenette, stove, microwave, refrigerator. The views from my villa were amazing.
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Rule of thumb is to stay in the Rodney Bay/Gros Islet/Castries area – close to the parade route. Here’s a few popular hotels that are nearby.
- The Landings
- Harbour Club
- Coco Palm
- Bay Gardens Beach Resort & Spa
- Bay Gardens Hotel
- Sandals Grande St. Lucia (all inclusive)
- Soco House (all inclusive)
Saint Lucia Carnival Events/Parties That I Attended
This year I made it to Escape Fete on time and had a time! This is one of my favorite events to go to for Saint Lucia Carnival. Its a premium all-inclusive with some of the best food I’ve tasted in Saint Lucia. Patrons hands was waving, everybody was drinking and dancing with their friends. It was easy for me to just fall into the vibes; I had such a good time. I ended up drinking from the J.P. Chenet mobile truck most of the night and got roasted fish with pickled breadfruit among other dishes.
I also went to an event called Blocko which is basically a Jouvert style party that started early in the morning with paint and powder. Drinks were inclusive and they sold breakfast at the start of the event. The vibes were really good and built up as the event went on.
Another event I attended was CMR – a concert that featured Lucian and other island’s soca artists. Some of my favorite performances came from Ezra D’FunMachine and Ricky T with his hit “Look Something To Talk About”.
My next fete was Remedy (Saturday 3pm-10pm), a beach/cooler fete that I had done the first time I came to Saint Lucia for Carnival.
Indulgence Fete (Sunday 4am-10am) is by far my favorite fete that I attended in Saint Lucia. It was a Pastel themed event so it was nice to see all the different shades of colors and the decor was beautiful including the photo opps. The food was tasty, I tried lamb bouillon for the first time – it was so good. Drinks were flowing and the bartenders were generous; they even had a station to make different flavored mimosas.
TIP: To secure fetes like Escape/Indulgence, make sure you are following Just4FunCarnival and have your notifications turned on and your credit card in hand. If you’re at work -get a trusted friend to do it because these will sell out QUICK.
Other fetes and events to consider are the cultural shows such as Jr. Carnival, Panorama, King & Queen shows, National Jouvert. I’ve also attended fetes like Brazen, RED Brunch, Mess and other popular ones are Color Me Red, Bacchanal Blocko, Soakt, Sa Ka Fete and more. If you’re looking for a fete calendar, CarnivalSaintLucia posts their national and private events on their website and socials for Lucian Carnival.
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On The Road w/ Just 4 Fun Carnival
DAY ONE
I got an appointment with Kai Forde just for Day 1. For me, it was worth every penny because she matched my complexion perfectly.
Your band will typically post meeting times on their social media or you can ask them at costume pick up what time to meet. Just 4 Fun was great with communication both days in terms of what time to meet the band. Try to leave early because traffic in Saint Lucia on parade day can get CRAZY.
If you don’t know, Just 4 Fun is a really large band with a number of music trucks, drinks trucks, amenities trucks and once we crossed the stage- they even had someone taking backpacks if you didn’t want to wear it – such a mindful band. TIP: Try to meet the band on time because it can be a long walk to catch up. They had a wide selection of food (keep in mind -there is no rest stop) but I ate a lot of the soup they offered along with bouillon on the road.
Also, if you’re wearing a wide or large backpack – please know people are going to walk into it especially if you’re in a large band. There’s also the fact that once you cross the stage, Lucian Vaval typically has a part of the parade where the bands pass each other (one going up one lane and the other going down another) – so wearing a large backpack can get a bit tedious. TIP: Wear it until you cross the stage and find the backpack truck!
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DAY TWO
It’s a last lap-free up kind of day so you don’t have to wear costume but you can wash your costume and re-wear. Nowadays, people choose to wear a Day Two wear.
Again, try to meet the band on time or you will be playing catch up because the traffic… (insert appropriate French Creole words here…).
The food on the road was really good – jerk pork and sides hit the spot (VVIP truck) but there was also a selection of items for those not in VVIP.
Also for persons who are just spectating, there are certain points during the parade route where locals are able to stand and watch (pretty much the whole thing) but if you stay at WindJammer – they actually offer a boat cruise to go and watch the parade from the marina.
What I love about Just4Fun Carnival is the fact that they ask for all their revelers to wear one color so it just looks like a massive sea of people headed down the road and vibes… just watch the video.
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Things To Do
You have to take advantage and see the island. We were able to experience a half day tour with Amazona Adventures who took us around the island as well as to a gorgeous waterfall site.
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And while this isn’t the only thing to do in Saint Lucia, you can try things like make your own chocolate, the Friday night street party, go to the sulphur springs, hike the Pitons, a day on a resort (Sugar Bay Beach) and much more.
Resources For Planning Saint Lucia Carnival
Here are a few pages to follow for details, information. I believe minimum costs can start as low as 2K/2500 USD depending on where you stay, when you buy your flight (buy early because $$$), what costume you choose so it all depends.
Follow, subscribe to their pages for not only Saint Lucia Carnival content, carnival content in general but also tips for navigating Saint Lucia as a travel destination.
