St. Thomas Carnival 2026 and the year's events
St. Thomas Carnival 2026 ran April 26 to May 2 in Charlotte Amalie, its 74th year. The 2027 dates were not announced as of October 2026; the Department of Tourism announced the 2026 week on January 29, 2026. The St. Thomas International Regatta comes first, April 8 to 11, 2027. Dates move, so each row links the organizer; check there before you book flights.
Written by Virgin Islands Villas · Updated Oct 2026
The calendar
| Name | When | Venue | What | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bordeaux Farmers Rastafari Agricultural and Cultural Vegan Food Fair | Mid-January (2026: January 17 and 18); 2027 dates not yet published | Bordeaux Farmers Market, Estate Bordeaux | Two days of local produce, vegan food, crafts, reggae and cultural dance, run by We Grow Food Inc.; $5 adults, $3 children in 2026 | Oct 2026 |
| Transfer Day | March 31, every year (2027: a Wednesday) | Across the territory | A legal holiday marking the 1917 transfer from Denmark to the United States | Oct 2026 |
| St. Thomas International Regatta | April 8 to 11, 2027 | St. Thomas Yacht Club | Yacht racing hosted by the St. Thomas Yacht Club, with a distance race and rally; long known as the International Rolex Regatta | Oct 2026 |
| St. Thomas Carnival | Turn of April and May (2026: April 26 to May 2); 2027 dates not announced as of October 2026 | Charlotte Amalie | J'ouvert on the waterfront, the children's and adults' parades, pageants, calypso nights, the boat races and the food fair | Oct 2026 |
| Virgin Islands Emancipation Day | July 3, every year (2027: a Saturday) | Across the territory | A legal holiday marking emancipation in the Danish West Indies in 1848; Independence Day follows on July 4 | Oct 2026 |
| VIBES on the Rock | November 6 to 8, 2026 | St. Thomas; venues on the organizer's ticket page | A three-day festival from Muse Entertainment: a comedy night, an all-white party with live music and a day sail, tickets by the day | Oct 2026 |
| Paradise Jam | November 20 to 28, 2026 | Elridge Wilburn Blake Sports and Fitness Center, University of the Virgin Islands | A college basketball tournament: men's games November 20 to 23, women's November 26 to 28 | Oct 2026 |
When St. Thomas Carnival happens, and where
Carnival on St. Thomas is a week at the turn of April and May, announced each year by the Department of Tourism with the Division of Festivals. The 2026 week was April 26 to May 2. The 2027 dates were not announced as of October 2026; the 2026 dates came out on January 29, 2026, and the 2025 dates on January 30, 2025.
The week holds a waterfront J'ouvert street dance at daybreak with bands on trucks, a children's parade and an adults' parade, pageants, calypso and reggae nights, the boat races, and a food fair and carnival village. In 2026 the parade ran a 2-mile route through Charlotte Amalie, per the Department of Tourism. The 2027 schedule of events, the route and the village site are not published yet; the tourism office puts them on its carnival page.
What that means for a stay: the parade and J'ouvert are in town, so a house in or above Charlotte Amalie is close to it, and one on the East End is a drive in.
The regatta moves off Easter in 2027
The St. Thomas Yacht Club's spring regatta, for years called the International Rolex Regatta and now the St. Thomas International Regatta, runs April 8 to 11, 2027, per the organizer. It has moved off the Easter weekend for 2027, to make flights and rooms easier to find, and adds an open wing foiling class and a distance race and rally division.
Transfer Day, Emancipation Day and the other holidays
Two territorial holidays fall on fixed dates every year. Transfer Day, March 31, marks the 1917 transfer of St. Thomas, St. John and St. Croix from Denmark to the United States. Virgin Islands Emancipation Day, July 3, marks the end of slavery in the Danish West Indies in 1848. July 4 follows as Independence Day.
The tradeoff: the Superior Court closes on its legal holidays, and its list also includes Three Kings Day on January 6 and D. Hamilton Jackson Day on November 1.
Dates move: check the organizer
A recurring event on this page shows its usual month until the organizer publishes the year's dates. The Bordeaux farmers' fair in the western hills has been held in mid-January, January 17 and 18 in 2026, and Paradise Jam, the college basketball tournament at the University of the Virgin Islands, runs its 2026 games November 20 to 28. Every date here was read from the organizer or the Department of Tourism on October 9, 2026.
Questions about what is on on St. Thomas
- When is St. Thomas Carnival 2026?
- It was April 26 to May 2, 2026, the 74th carnival, per the Department of Tourism. The 2027 dates were not announced as of October 2026.
- When is carnival in St. Thomas?
- At the end of April into the first days of May. J'ouvert and the parades are in Charlotte Amalie, and the tourism office publishes the year's schedule of events on its carnival page.
- When is St. Thomas Carnival in 2027?
- The 2027 dates were not announced as of October 2026. The Department of Tourism announced the 2026 week on January 29, 2026, for April 26 to May 2, and the carnival falls at the turn of April and May; its carnival page carries the dates once they are out.
Sources: USVI Department of Tourism (checked Oct 9, 2026) · Government House (checked Oct 9, 2026) · Superior Court of the Virgin Islands (checked Oct 9, 2026) · St. Thomas International Regatta (checked Oct 9, 2026)