After nearly two weeks of vibrant cultural celebration across the Caribbean island of Nevis, the 52nd edition of the annual Culturama festival has wrapped up to widespread acclaim, with top government officials and event organizers praising the event as the most successful in recent years.
Held from July 23 to August 4 under the official theme “Our Heritage Proud and True: It’s Culturama 52”, the annual festival is Nevis’ flagship cultural event, designed to showcase and preserve local Caribbean heritage, music, performance, and artistic traditions. In an official statement released August 6 by the Nevis Island Administration (NIA), Deputy Premier and Minister of Culture Eric Evelyn extended deep gratitude to every person and group that contributed to the festival’s 2026 staging, calling the edition a resounding, transformative success.
“From my perspective, Culturama 52 has truly been a tremendous success. Almost every event featured extraordinary production quality, and we saw strong, consistent attendance across all shows,” Evelyn said. “Over the past several years, we have worked to improve event timeliness, operational management, and attendee experience, and those efforts have clearly paid off this year. I am incredibly pleased with how everything came together, and I owe a huge thank you to every single person who helped turn C52 into the success it is today.”
Evelyn went on to extend special congratulations to competitors who took home top honors across the festival’s dozens of competitions, pageants, and performance events, while also thanking every participant, regardless of outcome, for their contribution. “Without competitors willing to put themselves forward and share their talent, we could never have a successful Culturama. Every participant helped make these events what they are, and I am grateful to every single one.”
Beyond competitors, the Minister thanked the Culturama Committee, volunteer teams, local vendors, event sponsors, street revellers, and attending patrons for their collective work. He specifically highlighted that the 2026 festival saw remarkably few incidents or accidents, crediting the good behavior of attendees for creating a safe, welcoming, and enjoyable environment for all participants and visitors.
The Culturama Committee echoed Evelyn’s praise, releasing its own statement recognizing the hundreds of individuals and organizations that contributed to the festival’s success. The committee highlighted the energy and creativity of performance troupes, marching bands, and masqueraders who transformed the streets of downtown Charlestown into a vivid showcase of Nevisian cultural pride, adding that designers, volunteer workers, sponsors, artists, and local residents all played critical roles in making events like the Street Parade and Grand Parade unforgettable experiences.
A wide range of competitors took home top honors across the festival’s core competitions. Mia Alexander, sponsored by the Caribbean Lottery, claimed the 2026 Bank of Nevis Miss Culture Queen title, while performer Kairo won the TDC Senior Kaiso Monarch crown. Adowah secured a back-to-back victory as National Bank Groovy Soca Monarch, and the team of Ras Brown and Rocco Dan took the title in the National Bank Power Soca Monarch competition. Additional major winners included Mighty Zen as Junior Kaiso Monarch, Oualie Rhythms Steel Orchestra for the National Bank Panorama competition, Kadijah Mulley as National Bank Miss Culture Swimwear 2026, and Devaughn Browne as National Bank Mr. Kool 2026. Porsha Precious Perkins and Keznambi Archibald of Charlestown Primary School won the Republic Bank Mr. & Miss Talented Youth Pageant, while Zaine Frederick of Antigua and Barbuda took home the crown of Bank of Nevis Miss Caribbean Culture Queen 2026.
In the festival’s popular Street Parade competition, category honors went to David Dynasty in Folklore, Back in De Good Ole Days in Ole Mas, U 2 Young 2 Know Bout Dis in the Float category, and Four Seasons Whisper of Oualie in the Fantasy category. The festival officially came to a close when DVX Reloaded was named the 2026 Road March Champion for their hit track “Sugar Daddy”, closing out two weeks of celebration of Nevis’ rich cultural, musical, and traditional heritage.