The story
San Nicolas Grand Carnival Parade in San Nicolas
San Nicolas, the town credited as the birthplace of Aruba's Carnival tradition, hosts its own Grand Carnival Parade featuring costumed troupes, bands and floats competing for judged titles. Rooted in the town's mid-century immigrant oil-refinery workforce, the parade is widely seen as the more community-driven of Aruba's two Grand Parades, typically held just ahead of the capital's.
San Nicolas holds a special claim in Aruba's Carnival story: this southeastern town, once home to the massive Lago oil refinery, is widely credited as the birthplace of the island's Carnival tradition, introduced in the mid-twentieth century by Caribbean immigrant workers who brought their own island's parade customs with them.