The Carriacou Maroon & String Band Music Festival is a 3-day celebration of traditional songs, dance, drumming, food, and other cultural performances. The festival is generally held at the end of April and highlights the African roots of Carriacou’s people with three days of activities. Originally established in as the Carriacou Maroon Music Festival, this was later merged in with a string band competition to create a single event focusing on preserving the rich cultural expressions of Carriacou.
The term “Maroon” is traced to the Spanish word cimarrón, meaning “fugitive” or “runaway”, and applied to escaped slaves who took to living in the mountains. Enslaved people often ran away within the first generation of their arrival from Africa. The Maroons are lauded for preserving their African languages, culture and religion while hiding out. They also retained the knowledge of medicinal herbs and practiced drumming and dancing when administering herbs.
The festival is a unique local event celebrating the rich history and culture of Carriacou. The three-day event features a menu of smoked foods, along with local staples, followed by drumming and big drum dancing on Friday night.
On Saturday night, the venue for day 2 of the festival changes. Usually this is to the historical 3-acre lush Belair Heritage Park, transformed into an authentic festival village with a maroon centre and a dedicated stage for cultural presentations. However, in , Hillsborough will serve as the venue for Saturday’s activities, split between Hillsborough Square and the Botanical Gardens.
The third and final day of the festival, Family Day, usually takes place on Paradise Beach with string band performances, children’s events, and swimming races.