While the summer months in St Barth tend to be a bit quiet and many restaurants are closed, you could not be on the island at a better time if you want to participate in the summer beach festivals that are held by the local towns. July 21-22 was the Festival of Anse des Cayes, held this year on the beach at the Manapany hotel. Saturday was chock full of competitions: dominoes, bélote, pétanque and a paddle boat race. As usual, there were other games throughout the day as well as food and drink and music and dance in the evening. Following just the next weekend, July 28-29, was the Festival of the Quartiers du Nord (Colombier and Flamands), which was held at the tennis courts of ASCCO. Again, there were competitions of dominoes and bélote, followed by a demonstration of ping-pong by a French champion. A dance exhibition of Flamenco was followed with music by local favorites Les Falcos.

The Pitea Day celebration is August 14-15 and is held on the commercial dock in Public. The annual fishing competition will start early in Tuesday morning, with the fisherman returning mid-afternoon to weigh in their catch. Competitions in dominoes and pétanque will take place at 7:30 am on Wednesday, August 15. Raffle tickets are available at CCPF, Alma, GDM, La Rôtisserie in St Jean as well as in numerous other stores on the island. The drawing will be August 15 on the dock in Public at 5:00 pm. First prize in two tickets from St Martin to Paris via Air France! There are ten other prizes, including dinner for two at The Wall House, a “one-for-two” ticket from St Barth to St Martin on The Voyager and a motorcycle helmet.