Antigua Carnival Videos
Antigua Carnival closes out the summer with J'ouvert, troupes and pan on the road in St. John's.
Antigua Carnival runs from late July into the first days of August, centred on St. John's. The road comes alive at J'ouvert in the dark, then the troupes and costumed groups parade over the following days with steel pan, soca and calypso competitions running alongside. Any Antigua and Barbuda carnival video we publish appears on this page.
Antigua · Antigua and Barbuda
Antigua Carnival information
Verified public information about this carnival, organised by MasLife World TV. Last verified September 5, 2026.
What Antigua Carnival is
Antigua Carnival is the national festival of Antigua and Barbuda, an eleven-day celebration running from late July into the first week of August and centred on St John's, with Carnival City as its main venue. The season carries calypso and soca competitions, panorama steel pan, pageants, concerts and a dense run of fetes, then peaks with J'ouvert in the pre-dawn hours of Carnival Monday and the Grand Parade of costumed bands on Carnival Tuesday. Last Lap closes the festival, sending the remaining masqueraders and revellers back onto the road behind the trucks. The festival is promoted by the country's official tourism authority alongside the national festivals body, and each year runs under an announced theme — the 2026 edition, held 25 July to 4 August, was themed "Feel the Rhythm". Antigua sits in the busiest stretch of the summer Caribbean calendar, close to Vincy Mas, Lucian Carnival and Spicemas, and many masqueraders travel between them. For anyone searching "Antigua Carnival dates", "Antigua J'ouvert", "Grand Parade Antigua" or "Antigua Carnival 2026", this is that festival.
Source: visitantiguabarbuda.comWhen it happens
Antigua Carnival is a summer festival rather than a pre-Lenten one, dating in its modern form from 1957. It runs for around eleven days from late July into the first week of August, with J'ouvert on Carnival Monday and the Grand Parade on Carnival Tuesday. In 2026 it ran 25 July to 4 August. The next date has not been confirmed yet.
Source: visitantiguabarbuda.comParade
The Grand Parade of the Bands is the costumed climax of Antigua Carnival, held on Carnival Tuesday in St John's, with bands crossing the city and passing judging points, followed later by Last Lap. In 2026 J'ouvert fell on Carnival Monday, 3 August, with the Grand Parade the following day, in a festival running 25 July to 4 August. The official tourism authority publishes the festival programme each year.
Source: visitantiguabarbuda.comJ'ouvert / Jouvay
Antigua's J'ouvert takes place in the pre-dawn hours of Carnival Monday, when revellers fill the streets of St John's behind music trucks before daylight, ahead of Monday's mas and Tuesday's Grand Parade. Start times and routes are set each season and published in the official carnival programme.
Source: visitantiguabarbuda.comFêtes and festival week
The eleven days carry Panorama steel pan, calypso and soca monarch competitions, the Party Monarch and Caribbean soca shows, pageants, drumlines, late-night fetes and events at Carnival City in St John's, alongside promoter parties and boat rides across the island. The official tourism authority publishes the season''s events.
Source: visitantiguabarbuda.comCulture and history
Antigua Carnival in its modern form dates from 1957, when it was staged to mark the abolition of slavery and replaced the older pre-Lenten and Christmas-season celebrations that came before it. That origin is why the festival falls in high summer and closes around the start of August rather than moving with Lent, and why emancipation remains part of how it is understood on the island. Steel pan is central: Antigua has a strong Panorama tradition, alongside calypso, which retains real competitive weight, and modern soca. Traditional elements including drumlines, iron bands and highlanders sit alongside contemporary pretty mas, giving the festival a mix of old masquerade forms and modern band presentation.
Source: visitantiguabarbuda.comGetting there
St John's is the centre of the festival, reached through V. C. Bird International Airport (ANU), which is well served from North America, the UK and the wider Caribbean. The festival straddles the end of July and start of August, one of the busiest travel weeks in the region, so flights, accommodation and band sections are normally secured well in advance.
MasLife coverage
MasLife has not filmed Antigua yet — the information above comes from verified public sources. If you filmed it, submit your video and it can be the first.
Questions
- Where is Antigua Carnival held?
- Antigua Carnival takes place in Antigua, Antigua and Barbuda.
- How do I get my own Antigua footage on MasLife World TV?
- Submit it at maslifeworldtv.com/submit. If it is your footage and it is from the road, we publish it with your credit.
