Flag Fantasy wishing all the #Trinidad & #Tobago #Carnival revelers a Safe & Happy Carnival 2016 and a fun time at all the #Fetes! Remember ... wave yuh flag, wave yuh rag, but most importantly ... wave yuh FlagFan!
Bunji Garlin revs up the crowd. Photo by Aaron Richards
Trini nightlife & entertainment
Monday and Tuesday might be the only two days of the week when Trinis don’t lime and party in droves. Maybe. Because whether it’s a basic roadside bar with the spirited essentials; a swanky bar and lounge carrying live entertainment, gaming options, or the sports fixture of the hour; or a club to keep you pumping all night — things are seldom, if ever, quiet.
The lime & party epicentres
While clubs and bars exist nationwide, there are some epicentres: Western Main Road in St James; Woodbrook and St Clair (Shaker’s, Nuvo Serra, Martin’s, the Oval, Paprika, and Drink for liming, while 51 Degrees, Aria, and Tzar are some of the mainstays for clubbers); One Woodbrook Place and MovieTowne locations (which have movies, food, drinks, live entertainment and more on site); Trincity Mall; Grand Bazaar (Valsayn); Arima; and San Fernando. You’ll also find a range of swanky lounges in the larger hotels around the country (see our Accommodation and Food & Dining sections for more.) And of course, there’s Ariapita Avenue!
Ariapita Avenue in a nutshell
“De Avenue”: the dining and nightlife paradise just outside Port of Spain. On this Woodbrook strip, you’ll get everything from fine dining restaurants to casinos, exclusive clubs, trendy bars and pubs, sushi and wine bars, street food vendors, and Creole food establishments — many crowded most nights of the week, with the buzz spilling out onto the sidewalks and into the streets. Settle in at one, or do like many locals, and bar/club-hop the night away!
Liming 101
The word “lime”, as used in T&T, appears in the New Oxford American dictionary. Liming is doing anything, anywhere at all, in company and in a way that de-stresses. Americans would say “hanging out”.
Fetes
Trinis are pretty good at finding reasons to party (fête is the French word for party) — all year round. Public holidays, fund-raisers, Carnival band launches — we can always find an excuse to throw a fete or host a major event, from cooler fetes to large-scale, stadium-filling brams. School and community grounds are often venues, and when things get really big, the action heads for venues like the O2 Arena (Chaguaramas), Queen’s Park Oval, National Stadium, and Queen’s Park Savannah (all in Port of Spain), as well as other sporting arenas across the nation. Sometimes these events feature international headline acts, in addition to local stars.
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