Visitors are getting a special invitation to participate in the Bermuda International Gombey Festival next month at Botanical Gardens. It's the first time the Bermuda Tourism Authority and the Department of Community and Cultural Affairs have partnered to build a special visitor offering of this kind.

The Gombey Festival package includes: reserved seating, refreshments, private photo opportunities with Gombeys and an exclusive cocktail hour in the Sensory Gardens. This newly bundled cultural experience came together after the success of a similar visitor offering created for the first time this year at the Peppercorn Ceremony in April. With the purchase of a ticket, visitors had access to reserved seating, a private tour of the State House and a garden party where they could meet local dignitaries.

“A sizable segment of our target visitors wants to immerse in Bermuda's cultural experiences so wherever possible we try to build opportunities around what's available and make it easy to access for travellers online,” said Bermuda Tourism Authority Chief Product & Experiences Development Officer Pat Phillip-Fairn.

There is a full weekend of Gombey Festival events, beginning October 4 with a special Made in Bermuda Nights event, and ending October 7 with a symposium. While visitors are welcome at all festival events, the featured event with the newly packaged experience is on October 6 from 4pm to 9pm. Tickets are available on Ptix.com.

Earlier this month, the Bermuda Tourism Authority released a new promotional video on Gombeys via social media.

• Press release from the Bermuda Tourism Authority