a growing dining scene, a local food trail, and an entire month now devoted to celebrating the nation’s restaurants, chefs, and cuisine.

 

In October, Antigua and Barbuda was honored as the Caribbean’s Best Emerging Culinary City Destination in the 2025 World Culinary Awards, highlighting a multi-year effort to boost the island’s reputation as a culinary destination. “We have long believed that Antigua and Barbuda’s food story is one worth telling — and now, the world is listening,” says Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Minister Charles Fernandez.

 

A full plate of dining and cultural events was part of the inaugural Antigua and Barbuda Culinary Month, which debuted in May 2025. “Antigua and Barbuda has transformed from a destination known for its 365 beaches to one that now delights with 365 flavors and counting,” says Colin C. James, CEO of the Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Authority.

 

A major expansion of the island’s Restaurant Week program that launched after the COVID-19 pandemic, the month-long celebration is intended in part to give visitors another reason to come to Antigua and Barbuda at a time of year when tourism has traditionally slowed down after the popular Antigua Sailing Week, according to Shermain Jeremy, who leads the Culinary Month program as special projects and events manager at the Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Authority.

 

“Culinary Month is about more than food,” says Jeremy. “It’s about identity, pride, opportunity, and showing the world that small islands can lead big ideas. From our passionate chefs and mixologists to the small vendors in roadside stalls, we’ve built something rooted in culture and powered by the community.”

 

Antigua and Barbuda Culinary Month, which is on the calendar again for May 2026, begins with Restaurant Week and is followed by a Caribbean food forum that brings in experts from around the region for panel discussions around topics like food security and sustainability. FAB (Food, Art & Beverage) Fest, held over Memorial Day weekend, rounds out the celebration.

 

“We have Art Week the next month, so we’ve included the art experience as a part of our culinary month because we see food as a form of art,” says Jeremy. “This is a one-day event where all these wonderful experiences are happening visually, taste, touch, see, and smell. And in the backdrop we have live entertainment.”

 

In addition to chef demonstrations and participation by many of the hundreds of restaurants on Antigua and Barbuda, the festival will include a local food village “where people can taste and learn about local food and history and culinary traditions,” Jeremy says. An Eat Like a Local map, created as part of Antigua and Barbuda Culinary Month, helps guide visitors year-round to the kinds of smaller establishments where Antiguans and Barbudans informally dine.

 

“Antiguans love to eat — it has become a pastime,” says Jeremy. “So you will go into any restaurant on any day of the week and find locals just dining out and socializing. Eating is a form of community for us.”

 

In addition to local dishes like goat water, fungi, pepper pot and salt fish, visitors to Antigua will find a surprisingly diverse food scene, says Jeremy. “It’s a reflection of the people that live here,” she explains. “We have lots of expats from all different parts of Europe and Asia, so what you’re seeing in our food scene is a reflection of a very multicultural population that’s constantly growing.”

 

Some signature dining experiences in Antigua and Barbuda include The Hut, a beach club and restaurant on Little Jumby Island that’s only accessible by boat and boasts a beautiful beach in addition to brasserie-style dining and live entertainment; The Reef Restaurant, which offers two- and three-course fixed-price dining on private Green Island; and Barbuda’s Nobu, the sole Caribbean location of chef Nobu Matsuhisa’s Japanese fusion restaurant.

 

The Fox House offers a refined take on traditional Antiguan dishes, while Aunty Cavell’s cook shop near Darkwood Beach is locally famous for down-home family cooking in a relaxed setting.

 

Jeremy says the rapid maturation of Antigua and Barbuda’s dining scene can be traced both to locals’ love of food and the interest of visitors.

 

“Our tourism arrivals have been steadily increasing, and I think more and more travelers want to get outside the hotel and try different things,” she says. “I think people in general, much like Antiguans, love dining out.”

 

 

You Don’t Have to Be a Sailor to Enjoy Antigua Sailing Week
The Caribbean was literally discovered by boat, and Antigua and Barbuda is one of the few places in the world where boating underpins the country’s biggest cultural event: Antigua Sailing Week.

 

Getting underway again next April 22-26, Sailing Week includes four days of racing in a variety of boat classes, including an Around Antigua race, as well as parties and other social events. Staged from English Harbour on Antigua, Sailing Week is one of several major boating events held each year, including the Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta (April 14-20, 2026) and the Superyacht Challenge Antigua, held every March.

 

Rana-Jamila Lewis, head of event planning & marketing for Antigua Racing Week, says there are a variety of ways for sailors and non-sailors alike to enjoy boating competitions in Antigua, on and off the water.

 

“Antigua’s coastline serves up front-row seats to the races,” she says. “From Shirley Heights Lookout and Fort Charlotte, you can watch the sails streak across the horizon against turquoise seas.”

 

During Sailing Week, charter boats get spectators up close to the action with “Chase the Race” cruises, complete with drinks, snacks, and commentary that keeps you in the loop, says Lewis. “It’s the ultimate insider experience without having to hoist a sail.”

 

The weeklong celebration of sailing includes a variety of parties, both public and private. “The legendary Reggae in the Park, beach bashes, and Dockyard soirées are open to everyone,” Lewis says. “You don’t need to crew on a yacht to dance barefoot under the stars, English Harbour Rum cocktail in hand, surrounded by laughter and steel pan rhythms.”

 

The event village in English Harbour also has food stalls, live bands, art displays, and ample opportunity to rub elbows with locals, sailors, and other island visitors while the regattas are underway, she adds. And the final awards ceremony, also in English Harbour, is a champagne-soaked celebration where the entire Antigua and Barbuda community is welcome.

 

 

Art Week 2025 Comes Alive with ‘Culture and Color’
Got clients looking to experience Antigua and Barbuda culture a little sooner than 2026? Antigua and Barbuda Art Week will feature a variety of visual arts, music, dance, spoken word, fashion, and cuisine events on both islands when it returns Nov. 26-Dec. 2.

 

Art Week 2025 will open on Redcliffe Quay with live art demonstrations, musical performances, and art displays. The week continues with exhibitions, fashion shows, community-driven art experiences, and other events across the islands. Popular Art and Culture Bus Tours on Nov. 28 and 29 offer curated journeys to art galleries and artisan workshops around Antigua.

 

 

For additional information visit: www.visitantiguabarbuda.com