Saba’s Rum & Lobster Festival
Each year in the first week of November, the majestic Dutch Caribbean island of Saba transforms into a paradise for food lovers. This year, from November 1 to 9, the island once again hosted its much-anticipated Rum & Lobster Festival – a celebration of flavour, community, and creativity that showcased the very best of this “Unspoiled Queen.” Perched dramatically above the Caribbean Sea, Saba showcases its true heart by connecting its quaint community spirit and highlighting its culinary expertise. The festival focuses on two of the island’s proudest treasures – the locally caught Saba Bank spiny lobster and the island’s own Unspoiled Queen Liqueur rums, distilled by Saban Rock Living. Together, they represent the essence of Saba’s identity, rooted in the island’s natural abundance, perfect climate, infused with artistry, and shared through its genuine hospitality.
A perfect Caribbean pairing
Saba takes the idea of pairing rum and lobster very serious and it feels entirely natural. The sweetness and complexity of locally made flavoured rums can be embellished into exquisite high-end cocktails with Caribbean fruits like papaya, guava, mango, passion fruit and soursop. Such amazing rum cocktails perfectly complement the buttery richness of freshly caught lobster. Each dish and drink tells a story of the island’s connection to its environment, the sea providing its bounty, and the fertile hills yielding the fruits and herbs that flavour the rum. The actual rum flavours also make them perfect for sipping, which is the only way to sort out which one you prefer. Saban Coffee Rum is quite bold; Wild Lemon is zesty, of course; there are other unique spiced options with kicks of ginger and scotch bonnet pepper. On the sweeter side, you have Sweet Banana – and, for a tasty combination of sweet and savoury, try the Salty Caramel.
Throughout the festival, participating restaurants, cafés, and bars across the island created inventive menus that captured this harmony. We don’t want to give away all the juicy details, because this adventure is a must-do for you, but we will divulge that guests enjoyed lobster-stuffed Johnny cakes and lobster croquettes, with rum cocktails designed to mirror the island’s one-of-a kind landscape. You will notice nearly everything used comes from Saba, including the main show stopper – the lobster from the Saba Bank. This festival shares a story about appreciation of nature and its gifts, and the united community that cultivates it into such harmony and reveals it all in this festival.
A feast for the senses
The Rum & Lobster Festival isn’t just about eating and drinking; it’s about experiencing Saba’s culture in full colour. Each day offered something new – trivia night, bar crawl, fine dining, quaint shops, live music, scenic hikes, and the Bizzy B 5K Run – that turned the island into one big neighbourhood party. At Colibri Café, guests laughed their way through a spirited Rum & Lobster Trivia Night, testing their knowledge of everything from local fishing traditions to rum-making secrets. Over at Amonohana, the air pulsed with the infectious rhythms of Percy Rankin and the Bunfire Band, accompanied by the great DJ Zandersone, with everyone dancing together under a canopy of stars in a “One Love” spirit.
The festival’s signature Rum Crawl was one of the most anticipated events. Starting at The Hideaway Bar & Grill, participants followed the cheerful sound of tiny whistles from one venue to another, sampling rum cocktails and lobster snacks at each stop. Each stop offered its own unique spin on the festival’s rum-and-lobster duo. The creativity of Saba’s bartenders and chefs put on a full display flavours that were irresistibly Caribbean with their expertise of local ingredients with inventive ideas.
Community and culture
Early risers joined the Bizzy B 5K Run, and others enjoyed some amazing hikes. Saba’s runway at their famous Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport is known to be the shortest commercial runway in the world. Each activity celebrated Saba’s unique combination of natural beauty, cultural pride, and small-island warmth. So whether you were hiking Mount Scenery, sipping rum at sunset, or chatting with a local fisherman, the festival made it impossible not to feel part of something special.
A true taste of The Unspoiled Queen
Saba’s nickname, The Unspoiled Queen, couldn’t be more fitting. With its population of just 1,800 and its four quaint villages – The Bottom, Windwardside, St. John’s, and Zion’s Hill – the island remains untouched by mass tourism. What it offers instead is the kind of authenticity that turns visitors into lifelong admirers.
This Rum & Lobster Festival captures that authenticity in every sip and bite. It’s not just a celebration of food; it’s a celebration of this unique and magical place. Each dish and drink represents collaboration between local chefs, bartenders, fishermen, farmers, and artisans; a culinary ecosystem that thrives because of Saba’s close-knit community. For those who crave an escape filled with taste, tradition and tropical charm, there’s no better destination “or better pairing” than the Saba Rum & Lobster Festival, where every bite and every sip tells the story of the Caribbean’s most delicious little secret.
For visitors, the journey to Saba is part of the charm. Daily flights from St. Maarten via Winair take just 12 minutes and, as we mentioned, the shortest runway experience in the world. Or travel by ferries like the Makana and The Edge, offering scenic 90-minute voyages that reveal the island’s dramatic silhouette rising from the sea. Once you arrive, everything, from diving and hiking to dining and dancing, just feels infused with authenticity.
So mark your calendars now for the first week in November 2026, so that you can “Savour the sea, Sip the spirit, Celebrate the island.” Follow the Saba Tourism Bureau on social media @sabatouristbureau for updates and a full schedule of events. Saba Tourism Bureau is readily available to assist with accommodations and recommendations. They are happy to welcome you with a generous gift branded bag when arriving for the festival and immediate tastes of the rums before you even exit the airport. So just be sure to not miss the island’s most flavourful week of the year!
More info at www.sabatourism.com/rlfest
