Last year I went to a nighttime carnival parade on Aruba. It’s a fairly touristy island and there’s little grandstands by the tourist hotels but my wife and I ended up in a local neighborhood on the karate route. People had cars parked like American football tailgating with roped off areas of lawn chairs but they let us into their space. It was kickass, with dozens of floats carrying live bands and ear splitting sound systems, hot women in sequins and feathers, a lot of drinking but no one getting belligerent, just a good vibe overall. We had to fly out next day so didn’t stay to the very end. It was a few days before Mardi Gras, a Saturday I think.
I grew up in Louisiana and went to Mardi Gras for years and this felt a lot more down home and intimate, the best Carnival of my life.

>>2865520
Forgot to mention it’s the Lighting Parade at night, so all the floats have crazy flashing lights and the girls have hundreds of little LED lights all over their costumes and headdresses.

>>2865520
Aruban Carnival is wonderful, glad to hear another anon was lucky enough to experience it. I love Aruban culture in general, it feels like the best of Dutch, best of Latin American, and best of Caribbean culture all in one place