This is a list of festivals celebrated in
Costa Rica:
This list includes
festivals
A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival c ...
of diverse types, among them regional festivals,
commerce festivals,
fairs
A fair (archaic: faire or fayre) is a gathering of people for a variety of entertainment or commercial activities. Fairs are typically temporary with scheduled times lasting from an afternoon to several weeks.
Types
Variations of fairs incl ...
,
food festivals
A food festival is a festival, that uses food, often produce, as its central theme. These festivals have always been a means of uniting communities through celebrations of harvests and giving thanks for a plentiful growing season.
History
Food ...
,
arts festivals
An arts festival is a festival that can encompass a wide range of art forms including music, dance, film, fine art, literature, poetry and isn't solely focused on visual arts. Arts festivals may feature a mixed program that include music, lit ...
,
religious festivals
A religious festival is a time of special importance marked by adherents to that religion. Religious festivals are commonly celebrated on recurring cycles in a calendar year or lunar calendar. The science of religious rites and festivals is know ...
,
folk festivals
A folk festival celebrates traditional folk crafts and folk music. This list includes folk festivals worldwide, except those with only a partial focus on folk music or arts. Folk festivals may also feature folk dance or ethnic foods.
Handicra ...
, and recurring festivals on
holidays.
January
Fiestas de Palmares
This is celebrated in the first two weeks of January in
Palmares de Alajuela. Concerts with music, rodeos and firework displays are held. There is also a fairground and sporting competition.
Fiesta Patronal de Santo Cristo
This is a religious fiesta held in mid January in
Santa Cruz, Costa Rica. Rodeos, folk dancing and street festivities are held for two days to honor Santo Cristo de Esquipulas. A parade of ox-carts is also part of the tradition, as is a large feast.
Festival de las Kobe
This is held in late January at Playas Esterillos, near
Jacó. Mule races are held on the beach, with bullfights, music and a crafts fair.
February
Expo Pérez Zeledón
This is held in early February. Cattle and horse displays, rodeos, orchid and agricultural displays and beauty contests are held
Good Neighbors Jazz Festival
Carnaval de Puntarenas
March
El Día del Boyero
This takes places the second Sunday of March. El Día del Boyero means Oxcart Driver's Day. This celebration's main festivity of the parade is the painted and decorated oxcarts. Also, the priest comes to bless all of the crops and animals that are in the parade. The carts are beautifully decorated by very skilled artist. The designs on these oxcarts are mostly patterns of stars, flowers, and the sun with a variation of colors. Over one hundred oxcarts are decorated for this festival many more ox's are pulling these carts. A boyero, or oxcart driver, guides the oxen and hopes that they will win the competition.
International Festival of the Arts
This is held on the second Sunday in
San José when the theatres are jam packed with people watching live theatre, music and dance performances.
Southern Caribbean Music Festival
Semana Santa
April
Día de Juan Santamaría
This is held on April 11 in
Alajuela
Alajuela () is a district in the Alajuela canton of the Alajuela Province of Costa Rica. As the seat of the Municipality of Alajuela canton, it is awarded the status of city. By virtue of being the city of the first canton of the province, it i ...
with marching bands and a beauty pageant to celebrate
Juan Santamaría, a national hero who died fighting
William Walker in the 1856 war.
Feria del Ganado
Semana Universitaria
Commonly named Semana U, the event is held in the last week of April in San José at the Ciudad Universitaria Rodrigo Facio, main campus of the
University of Costa Rica
The University of Costa Rica (Spanish: ''Universidad de Costa Rica,'' abbreviated UCR) is a public university in the Republic of Costa Rica, in Central America. Its main campus, Ciudad Universitaria Rodrigo Facio, is located in San Pedro M ...
with open air arts shows, sporting events, and concerts.
May
Día de los Trabajadores
Fiesta Cívica
This is held in early May in Cañas with cowboy traditions such as bullfights and horse displays (''topes'') and street fairs.
Corpus Christi
This is held on May 29 in
Pacayas and
Cartago with religious parades and church services.
June
Sac anoi festival
Día de San Pedro y San Pablo
Compañía de Lírica Nacional
Festival Juvenil de Piano - Costa Rica Piano Festival
July
Fiesta de la Virgen del Mar
Día de la Anexión de Guanacaste
Chorotega Tourist Fair
International Festival of Music
August
Día de Nuestra Señora de la Virgen de los Ángeles
Liberia Blanca Culture Week
National Adventure Tourism Festival
Día de San Ramóa
Semana Afro-Costarricense
September
Correo de la Candela de Independencia
Día de la Independencia
Orosi Colonial Tourist Fair
October
Carnaval
Día de Las Culturas
Fiesta del Maíz
Día del Sabanero
November
Días de Los Santos
La Ruta de los Conquistadores
Feria Agroecoturística
Fiesta de las Carretas
Costa Rica International Film Festival
December
Fiesta de los Negritos
This is a
Boruca
The Boruca (also known as the Brunca or the Brunka) are the indigenous people living in Costa Rica. The tribe has about 2,660 members, most living on a reservation in the Puntarenas Province in southwestern Costa Rica, a few miles away from the ...
festival held on December 8. The indigenous Boruca peoples celebrate traditions with traditional dress, dancing, and music with flutes and drums.
Fiesta de la Yegüita
This is held on December 12 by the
Nicoya
Nicoya is a Districts of Costa Rica, district and head city of the Nicoya (canton), Nicoya canton, in the Guanacaste Province, Guanacaste province of Costa Rica, located on the Nicoya Peninsula. It is one of the country's most important tourism, ...
. A Chorotega legend is recalled and villagers carry an image of
La Virgen de Guadalupe
LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States.
La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment Music
* La (musical note), or A, the sixth note
* "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figure ...
in procession. The festival is a mixture of native Indian and Roman Catholicism.
Las Posadas
This is held on December 15 as part of the Christmas season when carolers visit houses and receive refreshments.
Tope Nacional de Caballos
This is held on
Boxing Day, December 26, in
San José, where the most talented horsemen in Costa Rica perform a display along the Paseo Colon with more than 3,000 horses.
Festival de la Luz
This is held on the second Saturday of December in San José with a Christmas tree parade at night and fireworks.
Carnaval Nacional
This is held on December 27 in San José when people wear costumes and dance in the streets in accompaniment to live music. A procession of decorated floats is also held.
Fiesta de Zapote
This is held in the suburb of Zapote in late December for the fairground, fireworks, and rodeo performances
Fiesta de los Diablitos
This is held from December 31 to January 2 over the New Year by the Boruca when the men dress as devils and run through Boruca villages to re-enact battles with the Spanish. It is simply a reenactment of the Spanish invasion.
See also
*
List of festivals in North America
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby unio ...
*
Lists of festivals by country
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby unio ...
*
Culture of Costa Rica
Costa Rican culture has been heavily influenced by Spanish culture ever since the Spanish colonization of the Americas including the territory which today forms Costa Rica. Parts of the country have other strong cultural influences, including the ...
*
Tourism in Costa Rica
*
Public holidays in Costa Rica
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Festivals In Costa Rica
Festivals
A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival c ...
Costa Rica
Costa Rica