FESTIVALS AND EVENTS
Turks and Caicos offers visitors an island teeming with unique cultural experiences and one of the best ways to experience this is to get out to one of the island’s many festivals or events.
Island Fish Fry: Every Thursday from 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., over a dozen local vendors, entertainers and cultural acts band together for the Island Fish Fry to an evening of “all things TCI.”
The event began in late January 2013 and has been increasing in popularity every week. Various seafood dishes, including crab and rice, lobster mac and cheese and local island corn off the grill are served. Local restaurants at the event include:
- Froggie’s on da Beach
- Hole in the Wall
- Middle Caicos Café
- Bugaloo’s Conch Crawl
A new band takes the stage every week with rotations by local favorites and cultural acts are spread throughout the evening. “Henry the Conch,” the event’s mascot, also makes an appearance. The Island Fish Fry is quickly becoming the place to be on Thursday nights.
Race for the Conch – Eco-Sea Swim: This event features 1 mile and 2.4 miles swim races as well as a 100-metre children’s swim. Registration is open to both novices or experienced competitors and the top finishers win a locally made conch trophy.
Half Marathons: This event runs early January each year.
Arts and Crafts Expo: Once a year in December, Turks and Caicos Friends of the Arts Foundation (TCFAF) an arts and crafts expo where local artists, crafts folk and vendors come together to display their work at Turtle Cove Marina. The money raised helps TCFAF to continue its programs, which brings encouragement, education and entertainment to local children and the community. The expo is full of beautiful artwork, photographs, kids clothes and dolls, baskets, bags, fans and iPad cases. Local food from Middle Caicos Café, local hot sauce from Sakaja and Turks and Caicos roasted coffee are also available.
Big South Regatta: This event runs at the end of May each year in South Caicos and will teach you all about Turks and Caicos culture, heritage, and country. This 4-day regatta gives you the opportunity to see sail boat and speed boat races, little miss regatta and miss regatta, love entertainment, maypole dance, horse and donkey rides and much more!
Windvibes Annual Kiteboarding Festival: The wide array of events will encompass many of the Turks and Caicos’s sports including kiteboarding, kayaking, stand up paddleboarding, volleyball and swimming with the Race for the Conch. Less competitive events will include log throwing, a flipper race, potato sack race, limbo, and kite pumping competitions. You don’t need to be a kiteboarder to get involved!