Emancipation Day?

[bonz15]

Hi there. My family and I will be cruisng to Bermuda at the end of July. I just found out that 2 out of the 3 days we are there will be a Public Holiday. What happens on those days? Is everything closed? Are museums open? Do the busses and ferries run? I am pretty upset that we won't get to experience everything we want to see.

Any information I can get would be great so then I'd know it will still be a good time.

Bonz

[BermudaMom]

I don't think you'll find this two day holiday will affect your holiday here in a bad way. Those two days are our annual Cup Match holiday and there are actually additional public events on during that time. The actual Cup Match 2-day cricket event being the primary one. Not a fan of cricket myself, but the atmosphere, the many locals setup selling fresh local foods at the event, the crown & anchor tables etc...always lots of fun.

 

The museums like the Maritime, the Bda Aquarium, Museum and Zoo will be open as normal. What you will find on the Thursday and Friday is that most local stores are closed. However, shops in the Dockyard Clocktower Mall are open (my daughter works at one on holidays), normal things like boat cruise, glass bottom boats and all the rest still operate. The buses and ferries operate on holiday schedule and I believer there is a link in this Bermuda section to that.

 

It's a long weekend when many locals go camping all over the island. I think the biggest impact to a beach is normally at Shelley Bay as this is a big camp site that weekend. But, there are many, many South shore beaches where you will find plenty of room. A crowded beach here is extremely diffrent from crowded beaches you find elsewhere with body upon body!

 

I will take a look in a bit to see if I can find some links to good information about this local holiday and if I find them, will post them here for you to have a look at if you wish.

 

I hope you and your family have a wonderful visit to my beautiful island home.

[BermudaMom]

Hi again,

 

I found a clip on YouTube by one of our ministers featuring Cup Match 2005. It's quite amusing and gives a good idea of the atmosphere at the cricket game. Near the end of the clip shows Crown & Anchor plus a special seating section they provide each year for tourists.

 

 

I'm not used to putting links so hope this works!

 

The Bermuda Hotel Association has a website that has a good blurb on Cup Match too: www.ExperienceBermuda.com/activities/cupmatch.html

[bonz15]

THank you very much for all the information. I am not worried now. I was nervous because a previous post said how the whole place "shuts down"

Doesn't sound that way from your post.

Bonz