Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
🎉 A Bahamian festival 🥁 Bahamian music
goombay

goombay

9.9
A celebration in the Bahamas that has music, dancing, and local food
  • noun
  • /ˈɡuːmbeɪ/
translation icon : goombay
  • Every summer, locals and visitors gather for the lively goombay in Nassau.

Examples

  • At the goombay, we enjoyed delicious Bahamian food and watched traditional performances.

  • The streets were filled with music and dancing during the annual goombay celebration.

  • The goombay festival was a colorful celebration.

  • Did you attend the goombay festival last year?

  • The Goombay festival in Nassau celebrates Bahamian culture with vibrant music, dance, and delicious local dishes.

  • During the summer, the Goombay festival attracts crowds eager to experience traditional music and dance in the streets.

  • Families gather every year for the Goombay festival, enjoying lively parades and tasting authentic Bahamian food.

Synonyms

bamboula
vsgoombay
  • Literature
1 9.9

A lively gathering with African-style drums and dancing

is a Bahamian festival centered on island music and local food
bongo party
vsgoombay
8.6

A party where people play bongo drums and dance

is a public island festival with specific traditional music, dance, and local food

Surface Forms

goombay singular
goombays plural

Etymology

Goombay comes from West African drum names like gumbe and gombey, words that came to the Bahamas with African people and that meant a small 'drum'. So a goombay festival is best remembered as a lively island party full of drumming, dancing and local food, with the drum at its heart.