Cup Match

Aside from sporadic reggae and soca concerts held at Tiger Bay in the summertime, the biggest event in St. George’s happens every other year—at Cup Match. Bermuda’s favorite public holiday is held the last Thursday and Friday of July or the first Thursday and Friday in August to celebrate Emancipation Day, marking the freedom of Bermuda’s slaves, followed by Somers Day, in honor of island founder, Sir George. With the weekend tacked on, Cup Match makes a four-day extravaganza loosely revolving around a historic and hotly contested cricket match. For over a century, St. George and Somerset have battled for victory—and major bragging rights—in a two-day tournament that draws thousands of spectators to either end of the island (teams alternate years playing host). But Cup Match is so much more than cricket. Many attend the game at Somerset Cricket Club or St. George’s Cricket Club (54 Wellington Slip Rd., tel. 441/297-0374) simply to socialize with friends and family or feast on the piles of homemade treats—mussel pie, fish sandwiches, peas ’n’ rice—sold from stalls dotting the ground. Others come to try their luck at Crown & Anchor on the only two days of legalized public gambling the government permits. The game presents a who’s who of Bermuda, and a slice of true island life, making it imperative to experience if you’re vacationing here at that time.