Cayman Carnival
Every year since the early 1980’s, during the first weekend in May, we have the Cayman Carnival which is also known as “Batabano”. The word Batabano refers to the tracks left in the sand by sea turtles as they crawl onto the beach and this is one of the many reasons why we celebrate Batabano.
Batabano is a time where locals and even expats jointogetherto take part of in a parade filled with soca music, vibrantlycoloredcostumes, dancing and a float parade to celebrate our heritage. As a matter of fact, we also have a junior’s Batabano carnival where local primary school’s join together and march down George Town Waterfront with traditional dances from the Cayman Islands, local music, and floats of Cayman’s History. The junior’s Batabano took place on April 25th at midday. The Adult’s Batabano which is the main event and possibly of the Biggest Annual event for the Cayman Islands took place on May 1st at 1:00pm. The parade started from 7 mile beach and finished at the waterfront in the heart of George Town..
Each year more and more people get involved in Batabano and decide to add their own groups. For instance a few years back, there was a community of Asian’s that gathered together and created their own float with their own costumes. Right before that, a community of Latin American’s did the same. Batabano is a time where everyone gets to share their culture and get together to have a good time. Many people around the world fly into the island just to take part in the parade.