Nightclubs, discotheques, neon lights flashing, loud music pouring out of bars and cafes… The islanders are quiet, hard-working, god-fearing souls. What would they want with any of these? This is very modest, but the number of discotheques is increasing but still there isn’t a sufficient influx of tourists yet to make such places worthwhile. This is not to say that nightlife does not abound in Azores. It does and it is lovely. But it is much more private rather than commercial and has a quite different meaning from that in the big city.
A few customers trickle through – sailors who want a change from oilskins and eating in the ship’s mess, commercial travellers needing to relax after a hard day’s selling, even Azorean migrants who have returned from Boston and feel like showing their friends what fun money can bring. So there are few places willing to import modern pop records and strobe lights, mostly in São Miguel and Terceira. A few hotels have their own nightclubs or discos, usually open only in summer. Floorshows tend to be foklorieo rather than international cabaret, however.
