Trujillo has a well-hidden but interesting nightlife, which gets going around 10:30 p.m. If you are looking for a lively atmosphere before midnight, shoot pool and mingle with university students at The Bug Bunny Club Billiards & Pub (Jesus de Nazareth 311, tel. 044/971-1045). The best pub in town is Chelsea Pub Disco (Estete 675, tel. 044/25-7-032, open until 4 a.m.), which has a restaurant and different kinds of live music depending on the night.

Cañana’s Peña y Disco (San Martín 788, tel. 044/23-2-503) is a good restaurant with an elegant courtyard that becomes a nightclub around midnight.

For dancing, try the disco-pub Tributo (Almagro and Pizarro, 9 p.m.–close Thurs.–Sat.), just off the Plaza de Arms, or Nuestro Bar (Bolognesi and Pizarro, 9 p.m.–close daily).

For a little bit newer, international scene on the edge of town, there’s Hop’s (Av. Húsares de Junín Mz. B-5, tel. 044/47-1013, open daily at 6 p.m., US$5.50), a microbrewery that brings wheat, Pilsen, or Munich beer to the table in special dispensers.

If you have the late-night munchies, head to Jano’s Pub (Pizarro), Trujillo’s well-frequented, 24-hour hamburger shop a few blocks west of the Plaza de Armas.

Marinera dancers from up and down Peru’s coast flock to Trujillo in the last weeks of January and the first week of February for the National Marinera Contest. In between rounds of judged dancing, the city comes to life with cockfights, horse-riding championships, a multitude of parties, and even surfing contests at Huanchaco. The partying is especially intense during the last weekend when the dancing finals take place.

A similar fiesta, Festival de la Primavera, is a celebration of the beginning of spring during the last week of September or the first weeks of October. The event is best known as a showcase for Trujillo’s other icon of Peruvian criolla (coastal) culture, the caballo de paso. These graceful horses with tripping gait allow riders to float even during a full trot and are highly prized around the world. Because the best caballos de paso are bred in ranches around Trujillo, buyers from California, Texas, and other areas flock to this event.

Year-round horse shows are given at Fundo Palo Marino (Via de Evitamiento Km 569, tel. 044/24-5935, 11 a.m.–1 p.m. Mon.–Fri., 11 a.m.–2 p.m. Sat.–Sun.).