Caribbean funerals in the UK

Caribbean funerals in the UK are often called homegoings: a celebration of someone going home to God, as well as a time of grief. This guide covers Nine Night, the service, the tradition of mourners filling the grave, and practical tips for arranging a Caribbean funeral in the UK. Customs vary between islands, churches, generations and families, so always follow the family’s wishes.

Key points

• Funerals are often held three to four weeks after the death, allowing time for Nine Night and for relatives to travel.
• Nine Night gatherings bring family and friends together with food, hymns and memories.
• Services are often long, with gospel music, tributes and a viewing, so a longer slot is usually needed.
• At the burial, mourners often fill in the grave themselves, taking turns while singing. Cemetery rules vary.
• Burial is the strong tradition, and many families choose a vault.
• Some families repatriate to Jamaica or another island. Others bury in the UK near children and grandchildren.

What makes Caribbean funerals distinctive

British Caribbean families have roots across Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Grenada, St Lucia, St Vincent, Dominica, Antigua, Montserrat, St Kitts and Nevis, Guyana and beyond. Many of the Windrush generation who arrived from the late 1940s onwards are now elders, and their funerals often draw large congregations from church and community.

Faith is usually at the centre. Families may belong to Pentecostal churches, such as the New Testament Church of God or the Church of God of Prophecy, or to Seventh-day Adventist, Baptist, Methodist, Anglican or Catholic churches. Rastafarian families have their own customs. See our Pentecostal and Evangelical guide.

Nine Night

Nine Night, sometimes called a “dead yard”, is a Jamaican tradition also found elsewhere in the Caribbean. Family and friends gather at the home after the death, sometimes over several evenings, with the biggest gathering on the ninth night. Traditionally, this is when the spirit is believed to leave.

A Nine Night often includes:

• food such as curry goat, rice and peas, fried fish, bammy and soup;
• hymns and choruses (often called sankeys), prayers and Bible readings;
• music the person loved, stories, laughter and dominoes;
• in some Jamaican communities, traditional music and dance, which the Jamaica Information Service describes as a way to cheer the bereaved.

In the UK, many families hold one main evening rather than nine. It’s thoughtful to let neighbours know, and to keep noise and parking in mind.

Timing: why the funeral is weeks later

Child Bereavement UK notes that Caribbean funerals are often held three to four weeks after the death, to allow for Nine Night and for relatives to arrive from abroad. In England and Wales, a medical examiner must also review the death before it’s registered. While the family gathers, your loved one is cared for in the funeral director’s mortuary. Ask about the cost of longer-term care, and about embalming if there will be a viewing.

The service

A homegoing service often includes:

• a viewing of the person in an open casket, before or during the service;
• hymns and gospel, for example “How Great Thou Art”, “The Old Rugged Cross”, “It Is Well with My Soul” and “Abide with Me”, often led by a choir;
• tributes from family, friends and church members, a eulogy and sometimes a slideshow;
• sometimes the flag of the person’s island on or near the coffin;
• a printed programme with photographs and a life story.

Services can easily run past an hour. See our guide to funeral music.

At the graveside: filling the grave

In many Caribbean families, men and women take turns with shovels to fill the grave, singing choruses as they work, then shape the mound and lay the flowers. It is an act of love and respect. Child Bereavement UK also describes a collection for the gravediggers.

Cemetery rules differ a lot:

Always check before the day. The New Southgate Cemetery conservation plan notes that many African-Caribbean families choose concrete vaults instead of earth graves. If you choose a vault, ask how family can still take part.

The repast, dress and music

After the burial, families often host a repast in a hall, with catered food, decorations and music, sometimes a sound system or steel band. Guests usually wear smart black, white or black and white, and many older women wear hats. Some families ask for a particular colour.

Burial or cremation?

Burial is the strong tradition, especially for older generations. Some families now choose cremation, often for cost reasons or at the person’s request. See cremation vs burial.

Mourning and remembrance

Families often keep up grave visits, anniversaries and memorial services, and put up a headstone once the ground has settled. The first anniversary can be an important gathering.

Costs

The scale of a Caribbean funeral affects cost. The biggest items are usually:

• a vault or purchased grave, and a headstone later;
• a double or extended service slot;
• longer mortuary care and embalming for a viewing;
• food for Nine Night and the repast, and hall hire;
• extras such as a horse-drawn hearse, flowers, programmes and livestreaming.

Churches, friends and family often contribute. The Funeral Expenses Payment in England and Wales only covers funerals in the UK, the EEA or Switzerland, so it won’t help with a burial in the Caribbean. See our funeral costs guide.

Burial in the UK or repatriation?

Some elders want to be buried “back home”, perhaps in a family plot. Others want to stay near the family they raised in Britain. Repatriation adds cost and time, and needs the coroner’s permission in England and Wales (your funeral director gives notice on Form 104). Some families hold a full homegoing in the UK and then fly their loved one home. See repatriation to Jamaica and our general repatriation guide.

Practical tips for arranging the funeral in the UK

• Choose a funeral director who knows Caribbean funerals. Ask about viewings, vaults, backfilling and repatriation.
• Book a double slot. Crematoria run to fixed intervals (Croydon, for example, uses 45-minute slots), but extra time can often be booked.
• Ask the cemetery about backfilling and whether the family can have extra time at the graveside.
• Tell the cemetery about numbers, and ask about music at the graveside.
• Plan a livestream for relatives abroad.

Next steps

• Find funeral directors near you and cemeteries.
• Read what is a wake and how to write a eulogy.