Cup Match
We’ve racked our brains but can’t think of anywhere else in the world where the whole country shuts down officially for an annual sporting event. Welcome to Cup Match, a two day cricket match between 2 teams from opposite ends of Bermuda.
If you don’t know what cricket is, it doesn’t matter. Cup Match is basically a 2 day island-wide party and there happens to be a cricket match going on somewhere. Well, that’s our take on it, anyway. To many Bermudians the cricket is a matter of life and death. The game itself and the 2 public holidays it is staged on are steeped in a rich history.
There are no qualifying rounds and the 2 teams are always the same; arch rivals Somerset and St George’s. The setting alternates each year between their home venues. Each year around 15,000 people, some dressed in their best outfits, some wearing very little, watch the rivals battle it out.
The host ground has a special section reserved for visitors to Bermuda and complementary cricket guides are provided for the unacquainted. Elsewhere around the ground, many Bermudians will have staked out their positions in advance, some even constructing temporary shelters with lumber and plastic sheeting.
Many locals spend their time in the tents around the ground playing Crown and Anchor, a Bermudian game of chance and Cup Match tradition. Taking advantage of relaxed gambling laws during this holiday, their only knowledge of the cricket game will be gained from the roars of the crowd. Others will wander around the ground, chatting to friends and drinking rum swizzle, feeding their appetite with conch stew and mussel pies from Dolly Pitcher’s legendary seafood stall.
Elsewhere in Bermuda, campsites spring up everywhere. In the parks, by the roadside, in gardens, in fact anywhere a tent peg can be driven into the ground. Equipped with hampers of food, beer and barbeques, Bermudian families celebrate this holiday in true style. More money circulates in Bermuda over this period that at any other time of the year, including Christmas.
In short, Cup Match is a uniquely Bermudian Event. There is simply nothing like it anywhere in the world.
Reviews / Comments / Additional Information
There are currently 0 comments to display.