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It's only appropriate that Aruba's bustling capital and cultural center is called Oranjestad, Dutch for "orange town": This is one extremely colorful city!
Upon arrival, the first thing you'll notice about the place is its pastel gingerbread architecture, painted in vibrant hues and embellished with ornately carved gables — a constant reminder of the island's Dutch colonial history. Oranjestad contains Aruba's most historic structures, including the 1798 Fort Zoutman and other colonial gems that now house popular cultural attractions, such as the national archeology and history museums. This is a city that proudly displays its diverse cultural heritage, as it once served as an Arawak tribe outpost, a Spanish pirate haven, and a Dutch trading center.
Alongside its high-end boutiques and modern cruise port, you'll find traditional folkloric entertainment, weekly street festivals, and cozy mom-and-pop restaurants serving everything from Dutch pancakes to local stewed goat and fresh Caribbean seafood. There may be no better place in Aruba to immerse yourself so thoroughly in the island's unique culture, especially during the annual Carnival festivities, when nearly every day brings a new glittery parade or spontaneous dance party to the streets of the capital city.
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March 18 is Aruba's National Anthem and Flag Day, when downtown Oranjestad buzzes with national pride and displays its red, white, blue, and yellow. The flag is raised throughout the historic districts and streets brim with homemade street foods, stands selling artisan keepsakes, folkloric dance competitions, and of course an all-day soundtrack of live traditional music. During the festivities, teams of adults compete in the Venezuelan sport of bolas criollas (like bocce or petanque), while local kids play traditional Dutch games called Spel zonder grenzen (or "games without boundaries"), including pillow fights and sack races.
Bon bini ("Welcome!" in native Papiamento) is probably one of the first words you'll hear upon arrival in Aruba, and Oranjestad's Bon Bini Festival is a weekly extension of that warm spirit of hospitality. Every Tuesday night beginning at 6:30 p.m. in the open-air courtyard of historic Fort Zoutman, locals and tourists alike come together to listen to steel drum music, dance to the timbale beat, and sample traditional street food. In Aruba, there's no better way to learn about the local culture than to simply join the party!
Each October, Oranjestad plays host to the Chivas Regal Aruba Caribbean Cup billfishing tournament, during which anglers compete to snag a "grand slam" — a blue marlin, a white marlin, and a sailfish all in the same day. The capital city boasts a convenient proximity to the island's biggest harbor and, therefore, great access to some of the best offshore fishing charters in the Caribbean. You can schedule half- or full-day deep-sea fishing expeditions at the Renaissance Marina Aruba on the Oranjestad harbor channel, and try your hand at catching local game fish, including amberjack, bonitos, and yellowfin tuna.
Aruba's Carnival brings more than two months of partying, parades, and flamboyant costumes to the entire island, but downtown Oranjestad is undoubtedly the heart of the festivities. Early January kicks off with the first official parade of the season, the Parada di Flambeu, named for the torches carried through the streets of the capital. The season continues with a full slate of themed parades, including the Children's Parade, the Lighting Parade, the Carnival Queen pageant, and the Grand Carnival Parade, which always falls the Sunday before Ash Wednesday and marks the largest gathering of the season.