Carnival Calendar 2027: Dates, and When to Open Package Sales

TL;DR

• Trinidad and Tobago Carnival is 8 to 9 February 2027, and Rio's Sambadrome parades are 7 to 9 February 2027. Both are confirmed as of October 2026.
• Notting Hill is confirmed for 29 to 30 August 2027. Crop Over's Grand Kadooment (2 August) and Spicemas (9 to 10 August) follow fixed public-holiday rules.
• Jamaica, Toronto, Antigua, St Lucia, Vincy Mas, Atlanta and Miami had not announced 2027 dates. The table gives each one's usual timing.
• Open deposits six to eight months before the road days, so a deposit plus monthly payments finishes before the band's costume deadline.
• For February 2027 carnivals that window has passed. Open sales now with a larger deposit and three payments.

The biggest carnivals of 2027 are Trinidad and Tobago (8 to 9 February), Rio de Janeiro (Sambadrome parades 7 to 9 February), Crop Over in Barbados (Grand Kadooment 2 August), Spicemas in Grenada (9 to 10 August), Notting Hill in London (29 to 30 August) and Brooklyn's Labor Day carnival (6 September). If you sell carnival packages, the date that matters most isn't the parade. It's the mas band's costume deadline and your villa balance, and your travelers' payment plans have to finish before both. SquadTrip is built for that: one trip page where each traveler pays a deposit and then automatic payments that end on the date you choose.

This calendar is for organizers: crews, creators, promoters and section leaders who sell carnival trips. Every date below was checked in October 2026 against the source listed at the end. Dates marked "not yet announced" show the usual timing and the 2026 date for reference.

Carnival Dates for 2027, With the Month to Open Deposits

The last column is a planning suggestion, not an official date. It assumes a deposit plus four to six monthly payments, ending three to six weeks before the road days. Your band's and villa's own deadlines override it.

A few things stand out. February is crowded: Rio, Trinidad and Dominica all peak in the same week in 2027, so groups that want two carnivals have to pick. August is the busiest month for organizers, with Toronto, Crop Over, Antigua, Spicemas and Notting Hill inside four weeks. And 2027 has anniversaries: Antigua is preparing for Carnival 70, and Vincy Mas marks 50 years since it moved to the summer, which may draw bigger crowds and earlier sell-outs.

Which Carnival Should You Sell? A Quick Decision Tree

Pick the carnival that fits your audience and your calendar, then work back from its deadlines.

• Choose Trinidad if your travelers want the original road experience, with J'ouvert, all-inclusive fetes and a costume with a major band, and you can sell from the summer before. Start with the 2028 season if you haven't opened 2027 yet.
• Choose Crop Over, Antigua or Spicemas if your audience prefers a summer trip and a villa by the beach. They fall within eight days of each other in 2027, so some groups sell back-to-back packages.
• Choose Notting Hill if your travelers are in the UK or Europe, or you want a short city trip with no costume. Price it in pounds.
• Choose Toronto, Brooklyn, Atlanta or Miami if your audience is in North America and wants a long-weekend trip with no passport stamp, or only a short flight. Hotel rooms and a costume or J'ouvert band are the core of the package.
• Choose Rio if you can sell grandstand or box tickets and hotels near the Sambadrome, and your travelers want a samba school parade rather than a Caribbean mas band.
• Choose Jamaica if you want a spring trip in April, after the February rush and before summer.

If you are new to selling these trips, our guide on how to start a carnival trip business covers picking a carnival, blocking rooms and pricing the package.

Work Back From Three Deadlines, Not the Parade

The road days are the end of the story. Three earlier dates decide when you have to open sales.

1. The mas band's costume deadline

Bands open registration months before carnival and set a date for the costume balance, often well before the road. For Trinidad 2027, Tribe says costumes must be paid in full by 30 November 2026, more than ten weeks before Carnival Monday. For Toronto 2026, Saldenah cancelled orders not paid in full by 30 June, about a month before the 1 August parade. Read the terms for the exact season you are selling. Our guide to booking mas band costumes for a group compares how bands handle deposits, sizes, balances and collection.

2. The villa or hotel balance

Villas and hotel blocks usually want a deposit to hold the dates and the balance before arrival. Get those dates in writing before you set your payment plan. The cash-flow logic is the same as for retreats: collect deposits before your first payment is due, as we explain in how to pay the venue before your guests have paid you.

3. Fete and J'ouvert ticket releases

Popular all-inclusive fetes can sell out. If you include fetes in the package, you need enough money in hand to buy them when they go on sale. If you sell them separately, add each fete as its own priced add-on.

Then set the plan

Take the earliest of those three dates. Put your travelers' last payment one to two weeks before it. Then count back the number of monthly payments you want, and that's the month you open deposits. If a payment fails, SquadTrip retries it and asks the traveler for a new card, and the buffer gives that time to work.

Sample Plan: Selling Crop Over 2027 From January

Here's how the arithmetic works for one package, using made-up numbers. Say you sell a "Villa room plus Kadooment costume" package at $1,800 per traveler for Grand Kadooment on 2 August 2027, and your band's costume balance and villa balance are both due in early July.

The last payment lands about three weeks before the early-July balances. That gives you time to retry a declined card or chase a late payer before you owe anyone. If you open in March instead, you have four payments of $375 after the deposit. That's still workable, but each payment is bigger, which usually means fewer people say yes.

On SquadTrip, travelers pay a 6% fee on top of your price, so on this package they'd pay $1,908 and you'd keep $1,800. The /carnival page shows the same plan in more detail, and our payment plan step-by-step guide shows how to set it up.

When the Date Isn't Announced Yet

Seven of the carnivals in the table had no official 2027 date in October 2026. You can still plan and pre-sell.

• Plan with the usual timing. The "usually" column shows the pattern from 2026. Jamaica's 2026 road march was Sunday 12 April, a week after Easter. Easter 2027 is 28 March, and the band Xodus already lists its 2027 road march as Sunday 4 April.
• Say "dates to be confirmed" on your page. Write the expected weekend, and promise to confirm as soon as the organizers do.
• Collect interest before deposits. A free interest form lets followers put their name down before you have prices. When the date lands, you message a warm list instead of starting cold.
• Don't promise a band or a villa you haven't secured. Take deposits for the package once you've confirmed what's in it.

Price the Package Around What Travelers Buy

Most carnival packages are built from the same parts. Decide which are in the base price and which are optional.

• Room. A villa bed or a hotel room share. On SquadTrip each room has a set number of spots, and each roommate books and pays for their own. After booking, a traveler gets a room link to invite a friend into an open spot.
• Costume. The band's price for the section, if you are buying costumes for the group. Some travelers already have one, so a package without a costume is worth offering.
• J'ouvert, fetes and transfers. Add-ons with their own prices, so each traveler builds the weekend they want.
• Your margin. Your time, your risk on unsold rooms, and the cost of hosting on the ground.

Our general guide to pricing a group trip has a worksheet for the numbers. Then make a short video for your flyer with the free promo video maker.

Currency and Payment Notes by Carnival

• Caribbean carnivals: most organizers price in US dollars.
• Notting Hill: British pounds is the natural choice for UK travelers.
• Rio: Brazilian reais aren't offered on SquadTrip, so price in US dollars or euros.
• Toronto: Canadian dollars aren't offered on SquadTrip, so price in US dollars and say so clearly.
• US travelers can choose buy now, pay later at checkout, with a 4% fee added to their total.

FAQ

When is Trinidad Carnival 2027?

Carnival Monday and Tuesday in Trinidad and Tobago are 8 and 9 February 2027, according to Visit Trinidad (checked October 2026). The carnival season and fetes run for several weeks before those two days, and Ash Wednesday is 10 February 2027.

Which carnivals have confirmed 2027 dates?

As of October 2026, Trinidad and Tobago (8 to 9 February), Rio's Sambadrome parades (7 to 9 February), Dominica's season (9 January to 10 February) and Notting Hill (29 to 30 August) have published 2027 dates. Crop Over's Grand Kadooment (2 August) and Spicemas (9 to 10 August) fall on fixed public-holiday rules. Jamaica, Toronto, Antigua, St Lucia, Vincy Mas, Atlanta and Miami had not announced 2027 dates.

How early should I open deposits for a carnival trip?

Open deposits six to eight months before the road days, so a deposit plus four to six monthly payments can finish before the mas band's costume deadline and your villa or hotel balance. If you start later, use a bigger deposit and fewer payments rather than pushing the last payment past the band's deadline.

When do mas bands want costume balances paid?

Each band sets its own date, and it is usually weeks before carnival, not on the day. Read the band's registration terms for the season you are selling, then set your travelers' last payment at least one to two weeks before that date so a declined card can be retried in time.

What currency should I price a carnival package in?

Price in the currency your travelers think in and your costs are billed in. Caribbean and North American carnivals are usually sold in US dollars, Notting Hill in British pounds, and European travelers may prefer euros. SquadTrip sells in US dollars, British pounds or euros.

Final Thoughts

The 2027 calendar is mostly known: February for Trinidad, Rio and Dominica, August for the summer carnivals and Notting Hill, Labor Day for Brooklyn and October for Miami. The dates that decide your sales window are the band's costume deadline and your villa balance. Find those first, set your last payment a week or two before the earliest one, and open deposits early enough that nobody has to pay it all at once. Re-check this calendar as organizers announce the remaining dates.

Sources

Checked 25 October 2026.

• Trinidad and Tobago: Visit Trinidad, Carnival
• Rio: Diário do Rio, Grupo Especial 2027 parade order (17 April 2026)
• Dominica: Discover Dominica, Festivals and Events
• Notting Hill: Notting Hill Carnival official site
• Crop Over: Office Holidays, Kadooment Day
• Spicemas: Office Holidays, Spicemas
• St. Kitts: Office Holidays, St. Kitts Carnival Day
• Jamaica: Jamaica Gleaner, Jamaica Carnival 2026 (17 October 2025)
• Jamaica 2027: Xodus Carnival FAQs
• Band deadlines: Tribe FAQ (Carnival 2027) and Saldenah FAQs (2026)
• Antigua: Caribbean Journal, Antigua Carnival 2026 (27 June 2026)
• Vincy Mas: Searchlight, VincyMas 2026 (10 July 2026) and One News St Vincent, Vincy Mas 2027 (12 August 2026)
• St. Lucia: Saint Lucia Tourism Authority, Festivals
• Toronto: blogTO, Caribbean Carnival Grand Parade 2026
• Brooklyn: FOX 5 New York, West Indian Day Parade 2026 (28 August 2026)
• Atlanta: Jetpac, Atlanta Caribbean Carnival guide 2026
• Miami: Miami Broward Carnival, 2026 highlights