Photo: Alejandro Servacio
And of course, there’s Jouvert in San Nicolas. Much like other Jouverts, Aruba’s party starts around 4 a.m. and goes deep into the morning. Not everybody takes part, but you see a little of everybody at Jouvert: young kids, old folks, tourists, locals, all partying until the crack of dawn.
The early-morning fête takes place the night before the Big Parade in Oranjestad, but what makes it special is the scheduling. There is a big parade in San Nicolas on Saturday, and then the Big Parade in Oranjestad on Sunday. Same parade.During the big weekend, Arubians typically go to San Nicolas on Saturday during the day, then come home, eat/party/socialize/disco nap, and go to Jouvert in the middle of the night. They party ’til the wheels fall off, come home, sleep a few winks, then camp out at The Big Parade on Sunday, an all-day affair. It’s basically 48 exhausting, ridiculously fun hours of Carnaval celebration.