Compas, Haiti’s Popular Music and Pride, Recognized by UNESCO

From the bars of Port-au-Prince to the most remote Haitian villages, and throughout the global diaspora, people listen to and dance the compas.

AFP
10 Dec 2025 — Lecture : 3 min.
Compas, Haiti’s Popular Music and Pride, Recognized by UNESCO

Des gens du compas
Photo : Clarens SIFFROY / AFP

From the bars of Port-au-Prince to the most remote Haitian villages, and throughout the global diaspora, people listen to and dance the compas. This popular music, which is expected to be added Wednesday to UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list, is a source of pride for this small Caribbean country.

“Today, compas is the main artistic (and) musical representation of Haiti abroad,” sums up Frantz Duval, director general of Ticket, the country’s leading cultural magazine, who says it has even inf

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