Martinique vibrates to the rhythm of colorful festivities throughout the year to celebrate the Creole soul and the history of the island.
FEBRUARY
Carnival celebration
Martinique’s most famous festival is without a doubt Carnival, the annual pre-Lenten celebration in which the streets come alive with costumes, masks, music, and dancing. The festivities begin in January, with parades taking place every weekend all over the island, and culminate in late February or early March with four days of parades, parties, and concerts: Fat Sunday, Fat Monday, Fat Tuesday, and Ash Wednesday (in Martinique, even Ash Wednesday is a time for play!).
APRIL
Cap Martinique
The Cap Martinique is a transatlantic regatta.
Created following the request of many racers, Cap-Martinique is open to fast sailboats of 10 to 12 meters. The second edition will leave on April 14, 2024.
Cap-Martinique takes place in a single step, with a very simple route: departure from La Trinité-sur-Mer in France, then to the island of Porto Santo in the Madeira archipelago in Portugal and arrival at Fort-de- France in Martinique.
JUNE
Martinique’s International Hiking Festival
Martinique’s International Hiking Festival (Festival International de la Randonnée Martinique) takes place every year, during the month of June, and invites visitors on a variety of organized walks through some of the island’s most scenic terrain. Participants can choose from more than 20 activities, including a four-hour guided trek to waterfall through the lush tropical rainforest of Ajoupa-Bouillon, a three-hour urban hike around the capital city Fort-de-France, and a shorter excursion to the idyllic coves of Les Anses d’Arlet on the southern Caribbean coast.
JULY
Martinique’s Tour des Yoles Rondes
More than 20 sailing vessels known as yoles rondes will converge for the annual Tour de Martinique des Yoles Rondes boat race, a one-of-a-kind event that celebrates Martinique’s seafaring heritage for the past 30 years. The Tour is a veritable carnival at sea that draws thousands of enthusiastic spectators to cheer on the sailors from the shore and hundreds of boaters that follow in the yoles’ wake; a summertime highlight that’s not to be missed!
NOVEMBER
Martinique, host destination for the Transat Jacques Vabre
For its 16th edition, the Transat Jacques Vabre is launching the start of the race from the city of Le Havre on October 29 towards Martinique, in the bay of Fort-de-France.
In Martinique, land of arrival of the race, the Transat Jacques Vabre Normandie Le Havre supports the coffee sector of Martinique from a social and environmental point of view, Jacques Vabre wishes to accompany the return to the island of this historic production.
NOVEMBER
Raid des Alizés
Martinique is proud to host, each year, the annual Raid des Alizés, a women’s adventure race for charity. Teams of women compete in a series of running, cycling, and rowing challenges that take them through the island’s most spectacular natural landscapes: tropical forests, black-sand beaches, blue lagoons, and the slopes of Mount Pelée. Each team selects a charity to represent during the event, with donation amounts determined by the final ranking.
DECEMBER
Les Boucans de la Baie
Each year, Fort-de-France celebrates the coming of the new year under the fireworks of the “Boucans de la Baie”
A magical evening that can also be experienced from the sea aboard a catamaran before attending the open-air concert taking place in the heart of the capital.
