Events & festivals
8 Aruba festivals and events, mapped by month and region, from the island's vibrant Carnival and the Soul Beach Music Festival to Aruba Hi-Winds windsurfing and the traditional Dande celebrations of the New Year.
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.
Explore event →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.
Explore event →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.
Explore event →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)
After 22 years in Aruba, the Soul Beach Music Festival moved to Curaçao for its 2026 edition. The R&B, soul and hip-hop weekend built around the United States Memorial Day holiday is no longer held on Aruba, and no return has been announced.
Explore event →Plan around Carnival, Hi-Winds and Dande
Carnival from January into February, the Soul Beach Music Festival in late May, Aruba Hi-Winds windsurfing in the summer trade winds, and the weekly Bon Bini Festival year round. Tell us your dates and we'll point you to the festivals worth building a trip around.