29 to 30 Jul 2027
By the first ball, be through the gate with cash in hand. Once play starts the queue runs down the road, and the ground has had no cash machine for the Crown and Anchor tables.
29 to 30 Jul 2027. Times are approximate and can change from year to year.
Play starts on Emancipation Day, and the Crown and Anchor tables open with it.
Mary Prince Day, and the last day of play.
The holiday carries on through the weekend with raft-ups, paint parties and community gatherings.
Come dressed in a side's colours, red and navy for Somerset or light blue and navy for St. George's. Wearing one is the quickest way to a warm Bermudian welcome.
The holiday weekend ends on the water. Hundreds of boats raft up in Mangrove Bay in Sandys, at the far west end from St. George's, for a day of swimming and music.
Every stand round the ground holds a camp, most with their own bar and speakers, and you can walk between them all day. Crown and Anchor, a three-dice game played at tables in the big tent, is the only legal gambling in Bermuda. Somerset hold the cup, so the East End side must win outright at home to take it back. Visitors have had a free camp of their own, run by the tourism authority. You get in with a room key, a foreign driving licence or a cruise card.
Base yourself in or near St. George's, the host end in 2027, and book early: it is one of the busiest weekends of Bermuda's year.
Where to base yourself, and what else is on
The St. George's guide has the rest of the town.
Sixteen days of beer tents and brass bands on a Munich meadow. Get there on a weekday morning and a bench is yours without a booking.
Lima's purple month: a float carried through the old centre from dawn into the night on five days in October.