Thursday Nights in Curacao – Punda Vibes
Written by Jess Rogers – October 18, 2019
Once we moved here, we realized that the people on our new little island stay out late no matter what day! We are not that cool, but we managed to go out three different Thursday nights in a row. In Curacao, every Thursday is Punda Vibes.
Punda Vibes
Every Thursday night, Punda hosts Punda Vibes. The concept is to get locals and visitors to fall in love with the area again. There are organized happy hours, specials, live music, dancing, and workshops. You can follow along on Facebook to find out what the plans are each week. Each night ends with a quick fireworks display. We usually leave before this, but we did catch it one night!
Parking
There are a few parking lots and spaces along the streets, which are paid parking until 6:00 pm. Typically, you park, find the space number and then locate a machine to pay. However, we usually arrive at 5:45, find a spot and wait till 6.
Punda Cuban Night
At times, Thursday night becomes a theme night. I have heard it makes the event better. On August 29, 2019, we attended Punda Cuban Night Vibes. The schedule contained music and dancing aligned to the theme.
We chose to go to Mistral. We haven’t been to a ton of places in Punda yet, but this one is one of my favorites. We arrived early, around six, in order to get a table, and we were able to sit outside. Everyone was so friendly as we sat and enjoyed the atmosphere. As salmon lovers, my husband and I ordered a salmon salad and salmon filet. Both were yummy! The folkloric dancing was really entertaining and the band got people up and dancing!
Bali Restaurant
I grew up eating street food in Indonesia, so I consider sate ayem, mi goreng, and krupuk to be comfort food. While the food at Bali was delicious, I wouldn’t consider it authentic Indonesian food.
The menu is split into Indonesian, Thai, and Surinam. We dined on sate ayem, mid goreng, and gado-gado. The peanut sauce had what I believe to be kecap manis, or a sweet soya sauce, in it. I found it to be a bit unusual, but still good.
Since it was Punda Vibes, we were entertained by a Louie Armstrong-like singer and trumpet player. We noticed he was there again another week. He might be a regular.
We enjoyed dining at the outside table, listening to music, and people watching.
Punda Pride Vibes
I love pride festivals. I love happy people, I love celebrating, I love it when people are who they are … so we had to attend this Pride Festival. The boys had too much homework (remember, it’s a school night), so Cody and I went alone. The schedule wasn’t too different from a typical Vibe night, but it had a pride walk and concert.
This night we went to La Boheme to try it out. We were given the largest menu I’ve ever seen, seriously! I took a picture with it and Cody humored me! This restaurant was a little tricky for me since I can’t eat gluten, but I got a salad plate and Cody opted for a wrap. We were told to order the drinks with the “oldest rum” so that it would be the strongest drink. I’m not sure why the waiter felt we needed to get drunk, but we ordered the two drinks that he suggested. I took two sips and decided to revert back to wine. Cody enjoyed both drinks.
We joined the pride concert and loved every minute. As promised, it was fun and full of love and acceptance. When the first band began to play I was a little stunned. It was sort of a mix of a boy band and a Jane Fonda workout video from the 80s. I am not sure what to make of it, but everyone was having fun.
This night, we stayed out late enough to catch the fireworks by La Boheme. This island loves their fireworks and it was a great end to the evening (for us – many others stayed and partied well into the night).
