Festival del Mar, Anguilla

Exploring Festival del Mar

The 6th Annual Festival del Mar took place over Easter weekend and marked the first real cultural event that Scott and I were able to attend on the island. The festivities took place in Island Harbour, a fishing village on the east end of the island. The beach was dotted with tent after tent where locals were cooking and serving up lobster, crayfish, wahoo, shark and other local fare for hungry expats, tourists and locals.

Lest we miss out on anything, we made the rounds and noshed on some conch soup, saltfish fritters, fish, johnny cakes and tried out coconut dumplings with West Indian flair. We only popped in to take note of the festivities and have a local, fresh lunch but the festival continued on through the weekend. Saturday night, which was supposed to feature live music to christen the weekend’s happenings, ended up being rained out. We couldn’t make it on Sunday, but the musical acts doubled up to make up for the loss on Saturday.

Festival del Mar, AnguillaFestival del Mar, AnguillaFestival del Mar, Anguilla

The festival takes place during Easter weekend, acting as a precursor of sorts to the Easter Monday boat race. The Frangipani sponsors De Tree (which is captained by the resort’s landscape architect) so we were rooting them on from afar. Sadly, the boat sank (we thought it was an April Fools Day joke at first) so naturally, we’re pushing for a bit more success in the coming races!

Festival del Mar, AnguillaFestival del Mar, Anguilla

Did any of you check out Festival del Mar? What did you think?

xoxo from Anguilla,

Shannon Falzon

More about Shannon Kircher

Shannon Kircher is the founder and editor of The Wanderlust Effect. Founded in 2009, she has continued to document her international escapes as an expat in Europe and the Caribbean. Additionally, Shannon is the founder of Compass & Vine, a luxury boutique travel design firm, and is the Director of Marketing for the Frangipani Beach Resort. Shannon holds an MSc in Social Policy and Development from the London School of Economics and is a current candidate for WSET Level 3 in Wines & Spirits.