Antigua’s Culinary Month Is Back, and It’s a Caribbean Vacation Built for Foodies
Antigua and Barbuda is bringing back its annual food-focused celebration this spring.
The Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Authority has confirmed the return of Antigua and Barbuda Culinary Month in May 2026, a monthlong series of events built around local chefs, local ingredients, and visiting guest chefs of Caribbean heritage.
The program launched in 2023 and has expanded each year, with a schedule that mixes traveler-friendly events like Restaurant Week and chef dinners with a signature festival and an industry conference.
The return comes just months after Antigua and Barbuda was named the Caribbean’s Best Emerging Culinary City Destination 2025 by the World Culinary Awards.
What to Expect in May
Culinary Month is designed as a full calendar rather than a single weekend festival. During May, travelers can explore the destination’s food culture through several anchor events.
That includes the Eat Like A Local campaign, which highlights Antiguan and Barbudan dishes and where to find them, along with Antigua and Barbuda Restaurant Week, when restaurants across the island offer prix-fixe menus at set price points.
The month’s largest public event is FAB Fest (Food, Art & Beverage), which blends food vendors, chef and mixology demonstrations, local artists, music and performances.
There is also a major regional gathering: the Caribbean Food Forum, a conference-style event focused on the business and future of Caribbean food, hospitality and tourism.
A Guest Chef Lineup Built Around Caribbean Heritage
A defining feature of Antigua and Barbuda Culinary Month is its guest chef list. The Tourism Authority says the visiting chefs are exclusively of Caribbean heritage, with participants traveling in from the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada.
This year’s lineup includes returning names like Antiguan chef Kareem Roberts (based in Cambridge, England), London-based chef and television personality Andi Oliver, and Claude Lewis, a first-generation Antiguan and Barbudan chef and Chopped champion.
New additions include St. Lucian chef Nina Compton of Compère Lapin in New Orleans, Trinidadian chef Tristen Epps, winner of Top Chef Season 22, and Barbadian chef Paul Carmichael, the chef behind Kabawa and Bar Kabawa in New York.
Other participating chefs and beverage professionals include Angel Barreto, Kerth Gumbs, Suzanne Barr, Devan Rajkumar, and Antigua-based certified sommelier Jason White, along with several chefs based in Antigua and Barbuda.
The Key Dates for May 2026
The Tourism Authority has outlined the core schedule for the month, beginning with Restaurant Week.
Antigua and Barbuda Restaurant Week will run from May 3 to May 17, with more than 50 restaurants participating. Prix-fixe menus will be offered at three set price points: $25, $50 and $75.
The Caribbean Food Forum, presented by Grace Foods, will take place on May 21 at the John E. St. Luce Finance and Conference Centre. The Tourism Authority said the event will include both in-person and virtual attendance options, and will be held with partner the Caribbean Tourism Organization.
A series of chef collaboration dinners and special events will follow, including a dinner at Rokuni at Sugar Ridge on May 22 with chefs Andi Oliver, Kareem Roberts and Kerth Gumbs.
On May 23, the destination will stage FAB Fest at Cedar Valley Golf Course, which will be transformed into a food-and-art village for the day.
On May 24, the calendar includes a Puerto Rican-inspired barbecue at The Hut on Little Jumby, featuring chef Angel Barreto along with music and entertainment.
On May 27, chefs Paul Carmichael, Tristen Epps and Claude Lewis will cook at a collaboration dinner at Catherine’s Café on Pigeon Point Beach.
On May 29, Culinary Month will host a fundraising dinner celebrating Caribbean women chefs at Moon Gate Hotel & Spa, with chefs Brigette Joseph, Maurine Bowers, Nina Compton and Suzanne Barr. The property is expected to open in April 2026.
The month will close on May 30 with a finale beach party and cookout at Wild Tamarind Restaurant, featuring chef Devan Rajkumar and Wild Tamarind Executive Chef Amalin Raj, alongside Antigua-based pastry chefs including Jahkaydah Isaac of The Flaky Crust and Kendel Harrigan of The KenDen.
Why It’s Worth Planning a Trip Around
For travelers, the appeal is simple: May becomes one of the best months to eat your way around Antigua and Barbuda.
Restaurant Week gives you a structured way to try more places without committing to full à la carte pricing, while the chef dinners and festival events add a layer of energy you don’t always get on smaller islands outside of peak season.
And because the lineup leans heavily on Caribbean heritage — both local and diaspora — the month has become one of the clearest expressions of what Caribbean cooking looks like right now, across multiple cities and styles, all in one destination.
Flights in May
American Airlines flights from Miami to Antigua are running around $580 in May, according to Google Flights data.
Karen Udler is the Deputy Travel Editor of Caribbean Journal. A graduate of Duke University, has been traveling across the Americas for three decades. First an expert on Latin American travel, Karen has been traveling with CJ for more than a decade. She likes to focus on wellness, luxury travel and food.
