One of the Bahamas’ Most Distinctive Festivals Takes Over Cat Island This Weekend, With Live Music, Local Crafts and a Beach Resort to Match

There may be no better place to feel the true pulse of Bahamian culture this weekend than Cat Island, where the annual Rake & Scrape Festival returns for three days of music, dance, and island cooking.

Staged over the Bahamas’ Labour Day weekend, the festival runs June 4-6 in Arthur’s Town, the long-recognized rake-and-scrape capital of the Bahamas. And it remains the signature cultural event for this quiet, deeply traditional island in the Southern Out Islands — a celebration that draws visitors from across the archipelago and beyond.

For the uninitiated, rake and scrape is one of the Bahamas’ most singular musical traditions, built on handmade and repurposed instruments: the ridged carpenter’s saw played with a screwdriver or a nail, the goatskin goombay drum, the accordion and the maracas. Born in rural island communities, it’s the kind of sound that turns a town square into a dance floor — raw, rhythmic and utterly Bahamian.

And that’s precisely what happens on Cat Island.

The festival was created to honor this musical heritage and to ensure younger generations keep the tradition alive, and the lineup reflects that mission. Across the weekend, the festival brings together electrifying live performances from local and national artists, spirited quadrille dancing, a gospel concert and the much-anticipated Battle of the Rake & Scrape Bands, the competition at the heart of the weekend.

There’s plenty more woven in, too.

Each day tends to begin gently — breakfast and lunch in the park, games of dominoes and checkers, the easy rhythm of island life — before the energy builds toward the evening’s main event. Visitors can sample classic Cat Island cuisine, browse locally made crafts from straw work to jewelry, wander a fishermen’s and farmers’ market, and bring the kids to a children’s corner stocked with games. Part of the festival’s proceeds go toward a scholarship for a deserving local high school graduate, a fitting touch for an event so focused on the next generation.

It all unfolds in the town square near Arthur’s Town Airport, with crowds typically numbering in the low thousands — enough to fill the square with energy, but never enough to lose that distinctly Out Island intimacy.

Where to Stay

A word to the wise for would-be travelers: this is a popular event, and Cat Island’s small collection of hotels, inns and guesthouses fills up fast around festival weekend. If you’re planning a last-minute trip, book now — and book somewhere worth the journey.

The clear choice is Rollezz Villas Beach Resort, the island’s top boutique beach property and, for our money, the best place to stay on Cat Island.

This isn’t a sprawling resort with flashy pools or loud nightlife. It’s small, it’s personal and it’s family-owned — run by Carl and Yvonne Rolle, who have built the place with the kind of warmth that turns first-time guests into regulars. The property’s roughly 10 standalone villas sit right on Old Bight Beach, one of the longest uninterrupted stretches of powdery white sand in the Bahamas, a six-mile ribbon of soft sand fronting the calm, impossibly blue Caribbean side of the island.

The villas themselves are spacious and simple, infused with island color: one- and two-bedroom layouts, full kitchens or kitchenettes, air conditioning, comfortable beds, free Wi-Fi and front porches made for watching the sunset. This isn’t resort luxury in the glossy sense — it’s barefoot comfort, and on Cat Island, it feels exactly right.

The resort recently added a pair of new two-bedroom villas along with a beach bar right on the sand, and the team can arrange just about anything: bonefishing, snorkeling, island tours and excursions to nearby landmarks. Carl is also known to cook up nightly dinners built around fresh Bahamian seafood and produce from the property’s own gardens — reservations recommended, as everything is made to order.

It’s the kind of place where you can walk for miles along the beach and never see another soul. And with the festival just up the road, it offers the best of both worlds: the buzz of one of the Bahamas’ great cultural celebrations by night, and serene, secluded beach by day.

Getting There

Cat Island sits about 130 miles southeast of Nassau, and getting there is part of the adventure. The island is served by Bahamasair and regional carriers like Western Air, with regular flights from Nassau into both Arthur’s Town in the north and New Bight in the south. Private charters are an option as well, and the venerable Bahamian mail boat still makes the run for those with time to spare.

One tip from frequent visitors: regional flight schedules on the Out Islands can be fluid, so build in some buffer and be ready to board early.

Beyond the festival, Cat Island rewards exploration. This is the home of Mount Alvernia, the highest point in the Bahamas at just 206 feet, crowned by The Hermitage, a hand-built stone monastery created by the legendary priest-architect Father Jerome. There are blue holes, historic plantation ruins, world-class bonefishing flats and some of the most undeveloped coastline you’ll find anywhere in the country.

But this weekend, the heart of the island beats loudest in Arthur’s Town, where the saw, the drum and the accordion will once again call the Bahamas home.