Antigua and Barbuda Culinary Month 2026 – 4 Weeks, One Destination, Unlimited Flavor

Dates: May 1 – 31, 2026 | Location: Antigua and Barbuda

The Caribbean has always been a destination where food tells a story. The spices that drift from a kitchen window, the fisherman selling his morning catch at a roadside stall, the grandmother’s recipe that has survived three generations and several colonial shifts – these are the threads from which Caribbean culinary culture is woven. What the region has sometimes lacked is a stage big enough to present that culture to the world with the confidence and ambition it deserves.

In May 2026, one island in the Eastern Caribbean does exactly that. For the fourth consecutive year, Antigua and Barbuda Culinary Month returns – and this year it arrives with the most compelling lineup yet. A World Culinary Award for Caribbean’s Best Emerging Culinary City Destination 2025 under its belt. A guest chef roster featuring a James Beard Award winner, a Top Chef champion, a New York Times three-star recipient, and one of Britain’s most beloved food television personalities. More than 50 restaurants offering prix-fixe menus. A food and art festival. A regional industry conference. And a month-long invitation for food lovers from the USA, UK, Europe, and beyond to eat their way around one of the most beautiful islands in the Caribbean.

May 2026 is the best time to visit Antigua and Barbuda. Here is everything you need to know.

What Is Antigua and Barbuda Culinary Month?

Antigua and Barbuda Culinary Month is an annual monthlong celebration of the twin islands’ food culture, organized by the Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Authority (ABTA). Launched in 2023, it began as Restaurant Week and has expanded year by year into a full calendar of signature events – chef dinners, cultural tastings, a food and art festival, an industry conference, and the Eat Like A Local campaign that guides visitors to the island’s most authentic and beloved casual dining spots.

The event’s defining philosophy is worth understanding because it shapes everything about the experience: all guest chefs invited to participate must be of Caribbean heritage. They may live and cook in New York, London, New Orleans, Houston, or Toronto – but they come from the Caribbean. This is not a generic international food festival grafted onto an island setting. It is a deliberate, focused celebration of what Caribbean chefs are doing at the very highest levels of their profession, brought back to the region that shaped them, to cook alongside local talent who represent the living tradition of Antiguan and Barbudan cuisine.

The result is a food event unlike any other in the Caribbean. Not just a restaurant week. Not just a celebrity chef showcase. But a full month of events designed for food lovers who want to eat well, eat with meaning, and come away with a genuinely deeper understanding of what Caribbean food is and where it is going.

The Award That Changes Everything

Before getting into the 2026 programme, it is worth noting what makes this year’s edition especially significant. In 2025, Antigua and Barbuda was named the Caribbean’s Best Emerging Culinary City Destination by the World Culinary Awards. This is not a minor recognition. The World Culinary Awards are one of the hospitality industry’s most respected benchmarks for culinary tourism, and winning in the Caribbean’s Best Emerging Culinary City category signals to food travelers worldwide that this is an island whose dining scene deserves serious attention.

The award reflects genuine transformation. Over the past three years, Culinary Month has helped build a narrative around Antiguan and Barbudan food that simply did not exist at this level before – connecting local chefs to international peers, elevating traditional dishes into fine dining context, and positioning the islands as a destination for food-focused travel alongside their well-established reputation for beaches, sailing, and natural beauty.

Culinary Month 2026 builds on that recognition. It is the event’s most ambitious edition yet, and it arrives at a moment when the world’s food-travel media is paying attention.

Culinary Month 2026 – Key Details

• Event: Antigua and Barbuda Culinary Month 2026
• Dates: May 1 – 31, 2026
• Restaurant Week: May 3 – 17, 2026 (over 50 restaurants, prix fixe at $25, $50 & $75)
• FAB Fest: May 23, 2026 – Cedar Valley Golf Course
• Caribbean Food Forum: May 21, 2026 – John E. St. Luce Finance and Conference Centre
• Finale: May 30, 2026 – Beach party & cookout at Wild Tamarind Restaurant
• Official Website: antiguabarbudaculinarymonth.com
• Organized by: Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Authority (ABTA)
• Airport: V.C. Bird International Airport (ANU) – approximately 15 minutes from St. John’s
• Currency: Eastern Caribbean Dollar (XCD). USD widely accepted.

The Full May 2026 Programme

Restaurant Week – May 3 to 17, 2026

Restaurant Week is the backbone of Culinary Month – a two-week period during which more than 50 restaurants across Antigua and Barbuda offer prix fixe menus at three carefully chosen price points: $25, $50, and $75. The three tiers make the event genuinely accessible across budgets, from casual beach-side lunches to special occasion fine dining dinners. The format encourages visitors to try more restaurants than they ordinarily would – because the fixed menus remove the menu anxiety of choosing and replace it with the pleasure of simply sitting down, ordering, and letting the kitchen show you what it does best.

The participating restaurants range from local cookshops and waterfront casual spots to the island’s most celebrated fine dining venues. The prix fixe menus are designed specifically for the event, meaning that visiting during Restaurant Week gives you access to dishes and combinations that you cannot order at any other time of year. For visitors planning a trip around the food, Restaurant Week provides the ideal structure: book a different restaurant every night and use the days to explore the island.

Eat Like A Local

Running throughout the full month, the Eat Like A Local experience is Culinary Month’s most culturally immersive program. It highlights a carefully curated selection of casual island cookshops – the neighborhood spots where Antiguans and Barbudans actually eat every day – and invites visitors to follow an interactive map to find them. This is where the traditional dishes of the islands are served as they have always been served: unpretentious, generous, and deeply flavored.

The national dishes of Antigua and Barbuda – pepperpot and fungee – are the essential starting point. Pepperpot is a rich, slow-cooked stew of leafy greens (typically spinach or callaloo) with saltfish, seasoned with bold Caribbean spices. Fungee is a soft, cornmeal-based accompaniment similar to polenta, made with okra. Together, they form the foundational pairing of Antiguan home cooking. Beyond these, the Eat Like A Local map leads to goat water (a warming, spiced goat soup that is one of the Caribbean’s great underrated dishes), ducana (sweet potato dumplings wrapped in banana leaves), and saltfish preparations that reflect the islands’ African and colonial culinary inheritance.

Caribbean Food Forum – May 21, 2026

The Caribbean Food Forum is Culinary Month’s industry-facing event – a regional conference bringing together hospitality professionals, chefs, food system experts, agricultural leaders, and tourism practitioners to discuss the future of Caribbean food, culture, and tourism. Hosted at the John E. St. Luce Finance and Conference Centre and presented by Grace Foods in partnership with the Caribbean Tourism Association (CTO), the Forum is designed as a hybrid event with both in-person and virtual attendance options, making it accessible to regional and international professionals who cannot travel to the island.

For visitors who work in food, hospitality, or the creative industries, the Caribbean Food Forum is a genuinely valuable addition to the Culinary Month program – a chance to hear from some of the Caribbean’s leading thinkers about the food systems, supply chains, and cultural narratives that shape what ends up on the plate.

May 22 – UK Chef Collaboration Dinner at Rokuni, Sugar Ridge

One of the month’s most intimate and eagerly anticipated events is the collaboration dinner at Rokuni at Sugar Ridge in St. Mary’s, bringing together three London-based chefs: Andi Oliver, Kareem Roberts, and Kerth Gumbs. Rokuni, set within the hillside Sugar Ridge resort with views across the island, is one of Antigua’s most atmospheric dining venues. A three-chef collaboration dinner in this setting, featuring three distinct Caribbean culinary voices united by their London base, is the kind of evening that food travelers plan specific trips around.

FAB Fest – May 23, 2026 – Cedar Valley Golf Course

FAB Fest is the signature public event of Antigua and Barbuda Culinary Month – the largest, most accessible, and most festive gathering of the month. Cedar Valley Golf Course is transformed into a food and art village for the day, bringing together local food vendors, chef demonstrations, mixologist showcases, local artists, live music, and cultural performances in a single open-air space. FAB stands for Food, Art, and Beverage, and the festival genuinely delivers on all three: this is not a food fair with some art on the side, but a deliberate integration of the three disciplines that reflects the cultural philosophy underpinning the entire Culinary Month program.

FAB Fest is the entry point for visitors who want to experience the full breadth of what Culinary Month has to offer in a single afternoon and evening. Street food meets fine dining demonstrations meets craft cocktails meets live Caribbean music. Families are welcome. First-timers to the island will find it an extraordinarily enjoyable introduction to Antigua’s food and creative culture.

May 24 – Puerto Rican-Inspired BBQ at The Hut, Little Jumby

Chef Angel Barreto – a three-time James Beard Foundation Award semifinalist and Food & Wine Best New Chef 2021, known for his contemporary Korean cuisine at Anju in Washington DC but rooted in Puerto Rican heritage – brings a distinctly different Caribbean food story to this outdoor BBQ event at Little Jumby. It is a reminder of the extraordinary breadth of the Caribbean culinary tradition and the range of cultures and histories that the Culinary Month guest chef programme draws from.

May 27 – Collaboration Dinner at Catherine’s Café, Pigeon Point Beach

Catherine’s Café at Pigeon Point Beach is one of Antigua’s most beloved restaurant settings – a waterfront space where the food has always been as memorable as the view. A collaboration dinner here during Culinary Month is one of the most coveted reservations of the entire programme. Details of the chef collaboration for May 27 will be confirmed closer to the event on the official website.

May 29 – Women Chefs Fundraising Dinner at Moon Gate Hotel & Spa

One of the most emotionally resonant events of the entire Culinary Month calendar is the fundraising dinner celebrating Caribbean women chefs, held at the newly opened Moon Gate Hotel & Spa. The evening brings together four extraordinary women in Caribbean food: Brigette Joseph (Trinidad), Nina Compton (St. Lucia, Compère Lapin, New Orleans), Maurine Bowers (Antigua), and Suzanne Barr (Jamaica, Toronto and Atlanta). Together they represent the breadth of Caribbean culinary heritage and the depth of talent that women bring to the region’s food culture. The fundraising dimension adds purpose to what is already an exceptional dining experience.

May 30 – Finale Beach Party & Cookout at Wild Tamarind Restaurant

Culinary Month ends the way any great Caribbean month should end: on the beach, with food, music, and the kind of communal joy that only an outdoor cookout in a tropical setting can produce. The finale at Wild Tamarind Restaurant features Chef Devan Rajkumar (Trinidadian-Canadian, widely recognized across the Caribbean food circuit) alongside Wild Tamarind’s own Executive Chef Amalin Raj, joined by Antigua-based pastry chefs Jahkaydah Isaac of The Flaky Crust and Kendel Harrigan of The KenDen. It is a celebration of the local and the regional, a fitting closing note for a month that has honored both at every turn.

The 2026 Guest Chef Lineup

The guest chef programme is what elevates Antigua and Barbuda Culinary Month from a well-organized restaurant festival into a genuine cultural event. Every participating chef is of Caribbean heritage – this is a deliberate and defining choice that gives the event its identity. Here are the headline names:

• Andi Oliver – London, UK (Antiguan heritage): Celebrated British chef, television personality, BBC’s Great British Menu presenter, and author of The Pepperpot Diaries. One of the UK’s most prominent food voices and a deeply felt connection to Antiguan cooking.
• Nina Compton – New Orleans, Louisiana (St. Lucian heritage): James Beard Award-winning chef and owner of Compère Lapin in New Orleans. One of the most decorated Caribbean-heritage chefs currently working in the United States.
• Tristen Epps – Houston, Texas (Trinidadian-Tobagonian heritage): Winner of Top Chef Season 22 and owner of Buboy in Houston. One of the most talked-about young chefs in American food right now.
• Paul Carmichael – New York, NY (Barbadian heritage): Chef behind Kabawa and Bar Kabawa in New York. His restaurant recently received a three-star review from The New York Times – among the most coveted recognitions in American dining.
• Claude Lewis – Jersey City, New Jersey (Antiguan and Barbudan heritage): Food Network’s Chopped Champion and founder of The Freetown Road Project, a restaurant dedicated to traditional Antiguan and Barbudan cuisine.
• Kareem Roberts – Cambridge, UK (Antiguan heritage): Cambridge-based chef whose cooking draws directly from his Antiguan roots and who has become one of Culinary Month’s most beloved returning participants.
• Kerth Gumbs – London, UK: London-based Caribbean chef whose refined, ingredient-led cooking has earned him a strong reputation in the UK dining scene.
• Angel Barreto – Washington, DC (Puerto Rican heritage): Three-time James Beard Foundation Award semifinalist, StarChefs Game Changer 2022, and Food & Wine Best New Chef 2021.
• Devan Rajkumar – Canada (Trinidadian heritage): Trinidadian-Canadian chef widely recognized across Caribbean and North American food circles for his celebration of Trinidadian flavors and ingredients.
• Suzanne Barr – Toronto and Atlanta (Jamaican heritage): Acclaimed chef, restaurateur and advocate whose warm, soulful cooking draws on her Jamaican roots.
• Brigette Joseph – Port of Spain, Trinidad: A leading voice in Trinidad and Tobago’s culinary scene.
• Maurine Bowers – Antigua: A beloved local chef whose work in Antiguan cuisine represents the homegrown talent that Culinary Month was built to celebrate.

How to Plan Your Culinary Month Visit

Getting There

V.C. Bird International Airport (ANU) is located approximately 15 minutes from St. John’s, with direct flights from New York, Miami, and other US cities, as well as from London Gatwick and Heathrow. Regional connections from Barbados, Trinidad, and other Caribbean hubs are also available. May is an excellent time to visit – the island is past the main high season but the weather is warm, dry, and consistently beautiful.

Where to Stay

Siboney Beach Club is the official host hotel sponsor of Culinary Month and an excellent base for the month’s events. The island offers a full range of accommodation from luxury all-inclusive resorts to boutique guesthouses and self-catering villas. English Harbour, Dickenson Bay, and the Five Islands area each offer distinctive settings with good access to the main Culinary Month venues. Book accommodation early – May is a popular month for the island and the growing profile of Culinary Month is driving increased demand.

How to Book Events

Restaurant Week prix fixe menus can be booked directly through participating restaurants. Tickets for special events – FAB Fest, the collaboration dinners, the Caribbean Food Forum, and the closing beach party – are available through the official Culinary Month website at antiguabarbudaculinarymonth.com. Dinner events in particular sell out quickly: book as soon as reservations open. The Eat Like A Local map is freely available on the official website and requires no advance booking.

Building Your Itinerary

For the most complete Culinary Month experience, aim to arrive by May 3 to catch the start of Restaurant Week. The most concentrated period of chef events and flagship experiences falls in the final ten days of the month, from May 21 to May 30. A stay of ten to fourteen days covering both the Restaurant Week period and the final signature events gives you the best of the full programme – the accessible prix fixe dining of Restaurant Week plus the more exclusive and emotionally resonant chef collaboration dinners and FAB Fest in the second half.

Beyond the Table – What Else to See and Do

Antigua and Barbuda has 365 beaches – one for every day of the year, according to the well-worn local saying – and May is one of the finest months to experience them. Between culinary events, the island rewards exploration both on and off the water. Nelson’s Dockyard, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in English Harbor, is the most impressive colonial-era naval installation in the Eastern Caribbean and one of the finest heritage attractions in the region. Shirley Heights Lookout above English Harbor offers dramatic views across the harbor and hosts a legendary Sunday sunset party. The island’s sailing scene is world-class: day charters, catamaran excursions, and sunset sails all depart from English Harbor and Falmouth Harbor.

The sister island of Barbuda – accessible by a short ferry crossing or a brief flight – offers a dramatically different experience: remote, pristine pink-sand beaches and the Codrington Lagoon, one of the largest frigatebird colonies in the Western Hemisphere. A day trip to Barbuda during Culinary Month adds a natural wonder to a visit that is already rich in culture and flavor.

The Caribbean Table Is Set. May 2026 Is When You Pull Up Your Chair.

Antigua and Barbuda Culinary Month 2026 is not a niche event for professional food critics or travel journalists who happened to find an obscure island. It is a thoughtfully constructed, internationally recognized, award-backed culinary celebration that happens to take place on one of the most beautiful islands in the world, during one of the best months to visit it, with a lineup of chefs that would be at home on any stage in New York, London, or Paris.

For the food traveler from the USA, UK, or Europe who wants more from their Caribbean trip than beaches and rum punches – who wants to sit across a table from a chef who has cooked their way across two continents and come back to the island of their grandparents to make something that cannot be made anywhere else – Antigua and Barbuda in May 2026 is the answer.

Four weeks. One destination. Unlimited flavor.

Full program & reservations: antiguabarbudaculinarymonth.com
Tourism information: visitantiguabarbuda.com

Frequently Asked Questions