A Year in
costa rica
January
Copa del Café (1st week). International junior tennis champs battle it out for the “Coffee Cup”.
△ Fiestas de Santa Cruz (2nd week). Santa Cruz rings in the new year with folk dancing, rodeos, concerts, and fireworks.
DISCOVER A Year in Costa Rica
february
Bamboo Bass Festival (late Feb). Bass music pounds through Jacó, loud enough to wake the dead.
△ Envision Festival (late Feb). Music, yoga, and fire dancers cram onto the beach at Uvita.
Viva el Café Festival (end Feb). Two days of super-caffeinated fun in La Sabana, with tastings and the all-important championship of baristas.
DISCOVER A Year in Costa Rica
march
△ Día del Boyero (second Sun). Revelers take to the streets of San Antonio de Escazú with music, dance, and colourful carretas (oxcarts) to honor the humble boyero (oxcart driver).
Jungle Jam (mid-Mar). Beachfront Jacó reverberates during a three-day musical takeover, with tunes ranging from reggae to the psychedelic.
Easter Week (varies). Towns nationwide host religious processions and costumed re-enactments during Semana Santa (Holy Week).
DISCOVER A Year in Costa Rica
april
△ Juan Santamaría Day (11 Apr). Parades and street parties take over Alajuela in celebration of Costa Rica’s victory over William Walker’s mercenaries at the Battle of Rivas in 1956.
International Festival of the Arts (FIA) (mid-Apr). Arts lovers descend on San José for a week of theatre premiers, dance performances, art exhibitions, and music, with heaps of free events across the city.
DISCOVER A Year in Costa Rica
may
△ Día de los Trabajadores (1 May). Trade unions march across the country on Labor Day.
Día de San Isidro Labrador (15 May). Street parties, processions, and an agricultural fair take over San Isidro de Pérez Zeledón.
Carrera de San Juan (17 May). Crowds cheer on marathon runners, from Cartago to San José.
DISCOVER A Year in Costa Rica
june
△ Marcha De Diversidad (end Jun). A party atmosphere takes over San José as the Pride parade rounds off a month of celebrations.
Compañía de Lírica Nacional (mid-Jun–mid-Aug). The National Lyric Opera Company kicks off a resounding two-month festival of opera.
DISCOVER A Year in Costa Rica
july
Virgin of the Sea Festival (Sat closest to 16 Jul). A colorful regatta tops this vibrant Puntarenas fiesta.
△ Costa Rica Piano Festival (mid-Jul). Take in free lessons and recitals across San José.
National Surfing Championship (from late Jul). Amped local enthusiasts and pros alike surf the breaks to win at Playa Hermosa.
DISCOVER A Year in Costa Rica
august
△ La Romería Pilgrimage (2 Aug). The devout make their pilgrimage to the Virgin of Los Angeles, in Cartago’s basilica.
Semana Afro-Costaricense (Aug or Sep). The Afro-Costa Rican influence on Costa Rican culture is fully fêted in a seven-day blast of art and music across Puerto Límon and San José.
DISCOVER A Year in Costa Rica
september
△ Día de Independencia (14 Sep). The entire country stops to sing the national anthem at 6pm as the “Freedom Torch” arrives in Cartago, all the way from Guatemala. School bands lead the nation in festivities the next day.
International Beach Clean-Up Day (3rd Sat). Volunteers across the country pitch in to clean up rivers, beaches, and the ocean.
DISCOVER A Year in Costa Rica
october
Día de la Raza/Carnaval Limón (mid-Oct). Mardi Gras in miniature, Costa Rica’s main carnival is a week-long, dance-fueled, costume-filled, float-parading, high-energy party, culminating in the selection of the Carnival Queen.
△ Upala Fiestas de Maiz (mid-Oct). Corn-themed parades, the crowning of a Corn Queen, and street parties welcome in the corn harvest.
DISCOVER A Year in Costa Rica
november
Día de los Muertos (2 Nov). The entire nation pauses to honor the dead.
La Ruta de los Conquistadores (mid-Nov). A week-long mountain bike championship retraces the route of Spainish conquerors across some of Costa Rica’s most challenging terrain.
△ El Desfile de Carretas (Ox-Cart Parade) (last week). Oxcarts parade through downtown San José.
DISCOVER A Year in Costa Rica
december
Fiesta de los Negritos (8 Dec). The indigenous Boruca peoples celebrate their heritage with dancing to traditional drum and flute.
Festival de la Luz (2nd Sat). Spectacularly lit floats parade through the center of San José to launch the Christmas season.
Fiestas de Zapote (last week). The San José suburb of Zapote explodes with carnival rides, rodeos, and horse parades.
△ Fiesta de los Diablitos (30 Dec-2 Jan). Boruca masked re-enactors battle it out between “little devils” and Spanish colonialists.