CULTURE & CALENDAR
When Haiti celebrates.
- 1 January — IndependenceSoup joumou at every table; 1804 remembered.
- February — KanavalThree days before Lent, in Port-au-Prince and, famously, Jacmel. Book early.
- Easter — RaraBands walk the countryside for weeks with bamboo horns and drums.
- 18 May — Flag DayBlue and red everywhere; Arcahaie, where the flag was sewn.
- July — Saut-d'EauThe pilgrimage to the waterfall, 14–16 July.
- 1–2 November — Fèt GedeDay of the dead: cemeteries, white and purple, rum and pepper.
- KompaThe dance music of the country since the 1950s — every wedding, every bar.
- Painting & ironNaïve painting since the Centre d'Art; the metal artists of Croix-des-Bouquets; galleries in Pétion-Ville.
- VodouA religion, not a show. Ceremonies are open to respectful guests invited by someone who belongs.