St Kitts and Nevis Holidays - Event

St Kitts Carnival takes place over Christmas - so there is twice the reason to celebrate at the end of December. The parades, music and dancing take place at the specially-built Carnival Village and in the capital of Basseterre.

Deriving from a combination of the European tradition of pre-Lent carnival and the Kittsians' predilection for "Christmas sports", carnival in St Kitts basically becomes one great big excuse to party. St Kittsians even have their own word for hanging out and grooving with your mates: "liming".

Highlights include an opening gala, the crowning of the King and Queen of the festival, J'ouvert (a middle-of-the-night romp of music and dancing, also known as a jump-up), a New Year's Day Parade and the carnival's "Las' Lap".