Aruba Woos Visitors with Packed Events Program
The Aruba Tourism Authority has just produced its 2014 calendar of events, revealing a series of dates that provide an appealing mix of entertainment and activities, giving visitors a host of diversions from sun, sea and sand.
Carnival season is already underway in Aruba, with the spectacular event celebrating its 60th anniversary. It reaches its explosive finale on March 2 with the Grand Carnival Parade through the streets of capital Oranjestad, with pulsating music, amazing floats and colorful original costumes, decorated with sparkling stones, sequins and feathers. The parade starts at 10am but the fun continues through to the evening.
It’s music of a different kind for another headline event on the island in May. The Aruba Soul Beach Music Festival runs from the 21st to the 26th and is a star-studded, two-night concert series featuring such top names as Chaka Khan, Alicia Keys, Estelle and Jennifer Hudson.
More celebrities hit the island in July for the Aruba International Film Festival. Actors, producers and directors will be at red carpet premieres and screenings of an eclectic collection of international and Caribbean films. The festival attracts not only visitors and the media from around the world but also helps to develop and support local talent.
Aruba’s prevailing trade winds provide the perfect conditions for the Caribbean’s largest amateur windsurfing event, the 28th Annual Aruba Hi-Winds, from July 3 to 7. Staying on the water, yachtsmen head to Aruba from August 15 to 17 for the Aruba Regatta, where competitions for yachts, catamarans, sunfish and windsurfers combine with music, parties and dinners.
Music returns in a big way in September for the two-day Electric Festival 2014, with world-renowned DJs hitting the stage.
More genteel is the Aruba Food, Wine & Art Festival, scheduled for September 12 to 13, showcasing the island’s culinary best.
Visitors are encouraged to help with the Aruban environment in September with the 21st Annual Reef Care Project, where more than 800 volunteers, including holidaymakers, help clean dive and snorkel sites, as well as raising awareness of marine ecology.
Source: eturbonews.com
