Turks and Caicos holidays

The Maskanoo party and parade takes place every year on Boxing Day in Grace Bay, Providenciales, with loud music, street food and bright colours all around. But the biggest event of the year comes five days later: the Junkanoo Jump Up New Year’s Eve street party (also in Grace Bay) is a massive celebration with costumes competitions, parades, music and fireworks. It comes from the days when slaves were given time off over Christmas and New Year and would celebrate by dressing up, playing music and dancing.

Ripsaw or Rake ‘n’ Scrape is the national music of the islands, using a goatskin drum, accordion, guitar, maracas and good old fashioned carpenters saw. The best time to hear it is during the Rake ‘n’ Scrape festival every year on North Caicos (usually around the end of October). Local artists Lovey and Corry Forbes have developed Combina Music, fusing ripsaw and international pop. You’ll also hear the Caribbean sounds of reggae, calypso and soca all over the archipelago. Besides the Rake ‘n’ Scrape festival, the Sundowner music event brings local and international artists together to play on the island of Providenciales in October.

These days, Turks and Caicos – especially Providenciales – have a very cosmopolitan dining scene: you’ll find American, Greek, Turkish, Italian, French, Asian and a lot more served in the restaurants here. But don’t miss the local cuisine, which has been enjoyed by Belongers (the name for native islanders) for generations.

As you’d expect, seafood crops up deliciously often – tuna, grouper, lobster, mahi mahi and of course conch which comes in fritters, salad, chowder, curries, stews and cracked (deep fried in batter). Corn is common too, and ‘conch and hominy’ is a classic combination, made from dry or stewed conch and puffed up corn. It’s one of the most popular forms of the traditional ‘peas, hominy and penn on’ (taken from ‘depends on’, basically whatever the catch of the day is). Other dishes to look out for are fish cakes, okra soup, corn bread and conch fritters.

Most of the food you’ll find here is imported, but some produce (including bananas, papayas, tomatoes, peppers and corn) is grown on North Caicos, the ‘Garden Island’.

Unlike most Caribbean nations, Turks and Caicos wasn’t showered in sugar plantations during colonial times and doesn’t raise its own rum from cane to bottle. Instead, local Bambarra Rum is a combination of the best Caribbean rums, blended on Providenciales. It’s mixed into all kinds of punches and cocktails, alongside fruit juices, ginger beer, curacao, grenadine and other ingredients. New local brands include Monkey Bag Rum, also based on Provo and creating a mix of flavoured and blended varieties.

When it comes to beer, Turk’s Head is the only brewery in these parts – a good one at that, creating bottles, kegs and cans of lager, IPA, amber ale and light beer.

If you fancy a cuppa, look up Caicos Tea who make traditional bush tea and other brews from herbs grown on North Caicos.

Cricket is the national sport, having been played for decades and decades on South Caicos, Salt Cay, Grand Turk and Provo. Regular matches took place from the fifties, and though interest wavered a little it was revived in the nineties and the islands joined the ICC in 2002. Inter-island matches and games against other Caribbean nations take place at the Downtown Ball Park on Providenciales. Local teams from Grand Turk and Providenciales include Beaches, Police and JamTurk. Rugby, football and softball are other popular sports.

Anyone after serious shopping should head to Grace Bay in Providenciales, where the Salt Mills Plaza and Regent’s Village have galleries, gift shops, clothes stores, restaurants and activity companies.

As the main cruise stop, Grand Turk’s options are very touristy, with souvenir shops, duty-free outlets and restaurants in the Grand Turk Cruise Centre. If you head into Cockburn Town, there are gift shops and galleries selling more authentic products (check out the National Museum Gift Shop), as well as market stalls dotted along Font Street.

The shops on Middle and North Caicos are more independent and more supporting of local producers: Middle Caicos Co-op collect creations by dozens of local artisans, from straw hats to model boats. In Whitby, North Caicos, the Victoria Gift Shop has jewellery, accessories and little keepsakes to browse and buy.