The Sun, Sea & Slams Annual Bridge Festival was first held in 1990 at Sam Lord's Castle, as a way of celebrating the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Barbados Bridge League. It has been held each October since then at a number of different hotels across the island.

Sun, Sea & Slams is known for its relaxed and convivial atmosphere, but the bridge is nevertheless keenly competitive. Although the field is mixed international players who have played in this tournament have found it sufficiently challenging to make them work for their wins.

Over the years our winners (and occasionally losers) have included Zia Mahmood, who returned on two subsequent occasions, Russ Ekeblad, Neil Silverman, Mark Molson, Barbara Seagram, Sandra Fenton and Paul, Jason and Justin Hackett. The tournament regularly attracts some of the top regional players. Last year's winners of the flagship event, the Championship Pairs, were Ian Harvey and Alan Douglas of Bermuda.

There are games available morning, afternoon and evening, although many visitors opt for other activities during the morning. Attractive prizes of local craft are awarded for the morning games. The Rum Pairs event carries prizes of the excellent rum for which Barbados is famous, and the other events have money prizes. The championship pairs carries total prize money of B'dos $3,000. Masterpoints are awarded at each session, and can be credited with national associations in North America and Europe (not the EBU). Our director John Mac Gregor is the top director in the Central American & Caribbean region.

Barbados is famous for its hospitality, and easily accessible from Europe and North America. The Island Inn, venue for this year, is one of the island's best established smaller hotels and visitors last year expressed great satisfaction with the venue.