Jakes Hotel has announced the highly anticipated return of the Calabash International Literary Festival, set to take place from May 23–25, 2025, in Treasure Beach, St. Elizabeth.
Billed as “the best likkle festival in the best likkle district in the best likkle country in the world,” Calabash has cemented its reputation as a premier literary event, drawing writers, poets, and book lovers from across the globe to Jamaica’s south coast.
Founded in 2001 by novelist Colin Channer, poet Kwame Dawes, and producer Justine Henzell, Calabash is the longest-running literary festival in the Caribbean. It offers a free, three-day program of readings, discussions, and musical performances, all set against the relaxed, beachfront backdrop of Treasure Beach.
Over the years, Calabash has featured an impressive roster of literary icons, including Nobel laureates Derek Walcott and Wole Soyinka, Booker Prize winners Marlon James and Bernardine Evaristo, and global literary voices such as Zadie Smith, Salman Rushdie, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, and Junot Díaz. The festival’s signature format—no panels, just back-to-back readings—keeps the focus on storytelling, poetry, and the power of the written word.
In addition to literature, reggae, jazz, and folk music performances create an immersive cultural experience, while pop-up bookshops and local food vendors add to the vibrant atmosphere.
More details, including the lineup of featured authors and performers, will be available on the festival’s official website, calabashfestival.org, in the coming weeks.
