Aruba events & festivals
8 Aruba festivals and events, mapped by month and region, from the island's Carnival and Aruba Hi-Winds windsurfing to the San Nicolas Art Fair and the Dande songs of the New Year.
Aruba's events calendar is busiest at the two ends of the year. Carnival season falls in January and February, and Dande singers go from house to house as the New Year begins. Between the two sit the national days, the Aruba Hi-Winds watersports contest in May, the Dera Gai harvest dance on 24 June and the Art Fair in San Nicolas in September.
Aruba Art Fair
A street-art and culture festival in San Nicolas, the island's mural capital, with live painting, murals, music, food, and creative installations filling the southern town.
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Aruba Carnival
Aruba's biggest celebration: weeks of calypso and roadmarch music, dazzling feathered costumes, jump-ups, and grand parades that fill Oranjestad and San Nicolas with colour before Ash Wednesday.
Explore event →Aruba Hi-Winds
A long-running watersports competition on the windswept northwest coast, where windsurfers and kitesurfers race in Aruba's famously steady trade winds off Fishermen's Huts at Hadicurari.
Explore event →Betico Croes Day
Aruba's national holiday on 25 January, honouring independence leader Gilberto Francois Betico Croes with flag-waving, folklore, music, and patriotic events across the island.
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Bon Bini Festival
The weekly celebration of Aruban folklore in the courtyard of Fort Zoutman, with traditional music, dance, local food and crafts. The festival is currently on pause and no restart date has been announced, though Fort Zoutman and the Museo Historico Arubano remain open to visitors.
Explore event →Dande Festival
Aruba's New Year tradition, when dande groups travel house to house singing improvised good-fortune verses, and a national contest crowns the year's best singers and musicians.
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Dera Gai Festival
Aruba's St John's Day harvest tradition on 24 June, marked with the folkloric Dera Gai ritual dance, the rolling rhythm of harvest songs, and bright yellow and red dress.
Explore event →Soul Beach Music Festival (moved to Curaçao)
The Soul Beach Music Festival was a Memorial Day weekend fixture on Aruba for more than two decades. It left after its 2024 edition, was held in St. Maarten in 2025 and in Curaçao in 2026, and no return to Aruba has been announced.
Explore event →Aruba events month by month
- January and February: Aruba Carnival. The season builds to grand parades in San Nicolas and in Oranjestad on separate days. For 2027 the organizer, SMAC, has published a Carnival 73 schedule, and the government school calendar sets the Carnival school holiday for 2 to 8 February. Carnival Monday is a public holiday.
- 25 January: Betico Croes Day, a public holiday for the leader of Aruba's campaign for separate status.
- 18 March: National Flag and Anthem Day, a public holiday.
- 27 April: King's Day, a public holiday.
- May: Aruba Hi-Winds, windsurfers and kitesurfers racing in the trade winds on the north-west coast. It ran 13 to 18 May in 2026.
- 24 June: Dera Gai, the St John's Day harvest tradition. It is a cultural celebration, not a public holiday.
- September: Aruba Art Fair in San Nicolas, the island's mural town. The ninth edition was scheduled for 11 to 13 September 2026.
- Late December into January: Dande. Dande groups go from house to house with New Year songs as the year turns. We could not confirm a date for the song contest, so check the event page before planning around it.
Two festivals to check before you plan around them
The Soul Beach Music Festival, long associated with Aruba, was held in Curaçao in 2026, where the Curaçao tourism board listed it. We have found no announcement of a return to Aruba.
The weekly Bon Bini Festival of folklore, music and food in the courtyard of Fort Zoutman in Oranjestad is listed again. As checked in October 2026, the Aruba Tourism Authority's calendar shows it every Tuesday from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. A report in March 2026 said the festival had been paused, and we have not confirmed that it runs every week, so check the listing for the week you travel.
Plan around Carnival, Hi-Winds and Dande
Carnival season falls in January and February, Aruba Hi-Winds comes to the north-west coast in May, the Art Fair is held in San Nicolas in September and Dande arrives with the New Year. Check each event page for the dates of the edition you plan to see.