When neighborhoods like Woodbrook came into being in the 1930s — Nobel Prize-winning writer V.S. Naipaul grew up in the area — the backyards of these houses were where Carnival bands evolved out of community workshops known as “mas camps” (mas being short for masquerade).

“Yards have always been part of our narrative, the kind of informal, non-regulated spaces where people have played, lived,” said Christopher Cozier, an artist and co-administrator of Alice Yard, along with the architect Sean Leonard whose grandmother had lived on the property, and the local writer and editor Nicholas Laughlin.

Alice Yard is part of an informal network of similar grass-roots arts organizations across the Caribbean, such as Fresh Milk in Barbados and New Local Space in Jamaica. The administrators of Alice Yard also manage an affiliated sister space, Granderson Lab, in Belmont, the city’s first suburb, initially populated by Afro-Trinidadians in the post-Emancipation 1800s. Granderson Lab, housed in a former family-run printery belonging to Mr. Leonard, is now home to projects that include carnival planning and installation art.

The post-bacchanal creativity extends to the literary scene in Port of Spain. Since 2010, Caribbean literature has received an elevated platform with the founding of the Bocas Lit Fest. Held annually in April, the festival is free and showcases some of the best writers in the region.