Parati Nightlife

Parati is deservedly known for the Portuguese colonial architecture and treacherous cobble-stoned streets.

Less known is a theater called "Teatro Espaco" and their resident company of puppeteers called the "Grupo Contadores de Estórias" (loosely translated as "story tellers").

Don't let the "puppet" word turn you off, thinking of Sesame Street. This is an internationally-famous group of artists that has been performing for 30 yrs. These are not children's shows - some themes are quite adult in nature.

The "puppets" are NOT controlled by strings or rods, rather parts of the puppet are held directly by a hand. The controllers are dressed entirely in black and as the show progresses they fade from your consciousness and you start to think of the figures as being alive.

There is NO language barrier - the performance is "Theater without words". No dialogue, just universal sounds like chuckling, kissing, and a gun shot.

We saw a 1-hour collection of 7 of their best pieces, each 5-10 min. long. I won't describe them all, but the 1st one was a simulated performance of a violinist. The music was recorded and the two controllers skillfully manipulated the miniature violin, the bow, the puppet's arm moving the bow, and the puppet's head (adjusting the fit of the violin to the chin or peeking at the audience as if to see if they appreciated a particularly difficult part of the piece). Pretty special stuff!

Reservations are desirable. I sent an e-mail to the box office for reservations, but they said they required advance payment and did not accept credit cards! This is difficult from USA so I obtained reservations using the services of Teresa at Agencia Planeta Paraty Turismo Receptivo. Teresa is friendly, speaks English, and obtained reservations for us. I just stopped by her office early in the day to pay for and receive our tickets. Tickets, through Teresa or the box office, are 35 Brazilian Real, about US$13 per person.

Contact Teresa via e-mail for reservations at:

planetaparaty@planetaparaty.com.br

Dress Code: casual

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Cervejaria camello is an excellent place for those who love their beers.
They have a huge selection of beers including several brazilian micro brews.
The place often plays music videos on a large screen and the service is good and lively.
i spend many good nights there in Paraty enjoying their fantastic beer selection.

Dress Code: no dress code.

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At night live music is coming out of almost every bar along the busy streets and some of the musicians are really excellent.

One of the more popular live music venues is Cafe Paraty, Rua do Comercio 253 (tel. 024 3371 1464). It is in fact a nice restaurant but the place gets really hopping after 10pm. Excellent bands usually play covers of popular Brazilian music.

Good places for nightly live Bossa Nova, MPB (Musica Popular Brasileira) and jam sessions are also Paraty33, Rua da Lapa 357 (tel. 024 3371 7311) and Margarida Cafe, Praca do Chafariz (tel. 024 3371 2441).

Another popular spot in the evenings is Bar Coupe, Praca da Matriz (tel. 024 3371 1283), on the corner of Rua do Comercio and Rua da Lapa. It has live music every night of the week usually starting at 7pm. The venue is perfect as the musicians set up outside under the large trees and you can take a table outside and enjoy the show. The music is mostly MPB (Musica Populara Brasileira).

For real, free music and dance sit in Praca da Matriz at weekend. There are bars lining the square and stalls selling drinks, ice-cream and trinkets. My favourite stall was Caipifruta do Para where I tried the most delicious caipifruta, a Brazilian cocktail, made from lime & passion fruit, cachaca, sugar and ice. Praca da Matriz is a hot spot for young local musicians and besides, you'll often see men practicing capoeira, an Afro-Brazilian blend of martial art and dance most popular in northern of Brazil.

This is the place where locals and tourists hang out at night, drinking and listening to live music. They play "samba"., "bossa nova", mpb and rock. They also have a DJ. Besides serving good drinks it has also a grill.

The city center is full of restaurants with live music, most of the times bossanova. Bossanova is sth similar to jazz but with a really hard brazilian taste. Don?t you know "Girl from Ipanema", it?s probably the tipical bossanova song example.
If you are looking for crazy parties Parati isn?t your place, but it?s perfect to espend some quiet and romanthic days with your couple.
The worst part of this restaurants is that they are quite expensive comparing to the rest of Brazil, but you can have sth cheaper if you go outside from the historic center, sth like pizza or salgados.

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Brazilian small cities at night are usually as boring as an European city at night - you can go to a restaurant, pub or something like that, or sleep. Paraty is different, because they always offer a festival, an event, a fair, and even when these aren't sophisticated events they contribute to give the city a interesting outdoor nightlife. The square in front of Matriz Square is the main point - close to it, you can eat, drink, see the shore, the architecture, the public feasts offered by the Major Office or the Church, take an ice-cream, dance with the 'ciranda' folk song, enjoy the religious parades and carnival events. Or just watch people. The best; it's free.

Dress Code: not naked, nor with suit. The rest is totally adequated.