Skip the Line Caribbean Carnival History Entrébiljett

We Culture: The Carnival Experience" tells the story of Carnival in the Caribbean. It is just past the airport. The owner is from Trinidad. He made most of the costumes in the collection! Carnival in most Caribbean countries is not the traditional European Carnival. That carnival is celebrated before Ash Wednesday and comes from the Latin "carne levare" (to remove meat). Caribbean carnivals are celebrated at various times of the year and derive from slave rebellions. (Sint-Maarten's carnival is on from April through the beginning of May.) The museum includes a bar, designed by the owner's wife, where you can get complimentary drinks. The figures on the bar are three-dimensional and you can pat their patooties! When you walk into the first room, you see many costumes on display. A guide gave me a 45-minute tour of the exhibits. (I was the only one on the tour. Peak season ends at Easter and the day I visited there were no cruise ships in Philipsburg, so it was very quiet.) My guide wore two of the costumes in the display. An unusual costume is called "Burrokeet" and is a woman riding a donkey. This type of costume was brought by Venezuelan immigrants. Many of the costumes were designed to scare people. "Jab Molassie" dates from the mid-1800s. Ex-slaves daubed themselves with black molasses to conceal their identities when they played the devil. "Jab Molassie" is a mispronunciation of the French words for devil and molasses. One of the traditional characters is the "Bookman" . His book contains a list of naughty people. If you pay the Bookman, he will erase your name. At a meeting of Amoco oil representatives and international leaders, the owner's father played the "Bookman". When the oil executives did not pay (they thought it was a joke), he told how they damaged the environment and mistreated their workers. Prior to the mid-1960s, Carnival was a man's world. The owner's mother wanted to get women involved. She made sketches of carnival costumes in 1965-71. Today most of the participants are women. Their costumes may contain less material, but they cost a lot more! One room shows a timeline of carnival, so you can see how it evolved over the years. After my tour was over, I was able to browse through the exhibits on my own. Then my guide walked me to a large hotel and put me in a taxi back to my hotel. I highly recommend a visit to this museum to learn more about Carnival and experience this tradition.

One of a kind experience getting deeper knowledge into the carnival roots, making my carnival experience more enjoyable! The rum punch was good too! The effort put into the HANDMADE costumes & the setting up of the museum is amazing - the bar is also handmade!

We had the opportunity to visit the museum and enjoyed it very much! We were pleasantly pleased with the tour and the owner was there to give us all the history and explain the costumes. You could see and hear his passion. His handmade costumes are breathtaking. I would recommend going to see this display of Carnival Culture. You won't be disappointed.

This tour was absolutely amazing. The staff went into great detail about the history of carnival, which was great considering I knew very little about it. They were very friendly, knowledgeable and more than helpful. Definitely a great place to visit

So amazing to see the carnival culture and how it started. Being from Trinidad originally, it was amazing to see how our culture has grown and expanded.

This hidden gem is located in the back in La Tarrasse mall. The We Culture Caribbean Carnival Museum was absolutely breathtaking! We met the welcoming staff in full Carnival costume that provided us with refreshments, They guided us throughout the interactive tour full of knowledge and passion! My husband and I felt extra special since we chose a later tour making it more intimate. We also had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Gerald Hart that further explained how Carnival started. I highly recommend this tour when visiting St Maarten, you will not be disappointed!! 10/10 😍

My husband and I had the most amazing time at the We Culture museum and highly recommend it to everyone! There was an open bar right where we started our tour; the rum punch was delicious. We then had our tour through the museum where we learned SO MUCH about the history of carnival and saw such beautiful costumes. Our tour guides were so knowledgeable and enthusiastic that it helped set a great mood for the whole experience. The founder and his wife joined about halfway through our tour and we got to learn about their personal connections to carnival and the culture of the island. The founder has had such a profound impact on carnival and we loved learning from him. The art gallery by the owner’s wife (Larysa Malsagova) was absolutely beautiful! Plus we got to try on some of the traditional costumes which was one of the highlights of the tour. This was truly one of the best museum experiences we have ever had. We recommend this museum and also recommend budgeting out awhile for this visit - our tour was only supposed to be 45 minutes but we stayed for about an hour and 20 minutes because it was just such an incredible museum. Thank you so much We Culture for an unforgettable experience!

This was an amazing experience well worth the price of admission. There is an open bar throughout the experience which adds to the fun. The staff are very kind and knowledgeable. The owner took time to give us a detailed description of the items. Would highly recommend checking this out while you’re in Saint Marteen.

I visited the museum today 1/26 as part of a cruise excursion and it was a great experience. The owner and staff were very knowledgeable and friendly. The costumes were very unique and the museum gave the history begin each one. You also have an opportunity to try on a portion of a costume and take a picture. To top it off, it’s an open bar and the rum punch is delicious. The facility has clean restrooms and head pieces for sale. It’s definitely worth visiting.

We recently traveled to Saint Maarten to celebrate a friend’s 50th birthday, and without question, We Culture The Carnival Experience was the highlight of our entire trip. From start to finish, it was nothing short of AMAZING. Cynthia and Abigale were outstanding—warm, knowledgeable, fun, and truly passionate about sharing the history and heart of carnival culture. We booked the guided tour to learn more about how carnival began and how this unique business came to life. The story was incredibly informative, especially hearing about the owner’s mother, originally from Trinidad, whose love for carnival inspired everything. During the tour, we even had the chance to meet the owner himself and hear him speak so lovingly about his mother, who has since passed. It was touching to see how he honored her legacy by bringing her dream to life through this amazing experience. The unlimited rum punch definitely didn’t hurt either! And the grand finale—trying on the carnival costumes—was an absolute blast. We took tons of pictures and videos and felt like we were part of the carnival ourselves. This experience left such a mark on me that I’ve already decided to celebrate my own 50th birthday in St. Maarten—and We Culture will definitely be part of the celebration. I’m planning to reach out to them for another tour and even a pool party at their establishment. If you’re in St. Maarten, do yourself the favor and BOOK THIS EXPERIENCE. It is truly worth every moment!