Underrated Festivals and Celebrations in Costa Rica

Las Fiesta de Zapote, located in the town of Zapote, is the biggest rodeo of the year in Costa Rica. This is the fiesta of all fiestas. This iconic celebration takes place from the 25th of December through New Year’s Eve; the Costa Rican’s really know how to wrap up their year with a bang. Over a million people will attend Las Fiestas de Zapote. During this week, there will be a huge tope (a horse parade), traditional bull fights (very different from bull fighting in Spain), carnival rides and games, plenty of food stalls serving up fiesta favorites (pupusas, churros, and chicharrones), live music, and lots of late night dancing.

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Each year on the second Sunday of March a beautiful parade takes place in San Antonio de Escazu to celebrate the tradition of oxcart drivers, the oxen, and the vibrant oxcart art. During the festival, hundreds of oxcarts, drivers, and oxen pairs show up from all over Costa Rica. This tradition is a rich part of Costa Rica’s history and culture and there is a lot of pride taken in the creation and display of the oxcarts. The parade is complete with music and the day ends with a firework display.

During the summer, typically the end of June through the beginning of July, the Sabana Metropolitan Park in San Jose transforms into a festival site in honor of the arts. There are multiple main stages set up throughout the park where theatrical performances from the National Theatre and Melico Sabzar Theatre take place, as well as concerts and circus-like acts. Around 2,000 artists from 28 countries attend the festival to share their art. There are around 320 different art shows at the festival. This is a spectacular cultural and art event that the entire family will enjoy. There are plenty of kid-friendly activities and performances here too.

The Festival of the Little Devils takes place in two indigenous villages (Boruca and Rey Curre) at two different times at the beginning of the year. This festival celebrates the Boruca tribes’s victory over the Spanish conquistadores. The men of the village dress up as diablitos or ancestral spirits and one person dresses up as the bull, which represents the Spanish conquistadores. The Boruca tribe is famous for their exquisite handmade and painted masks, which are used during the various performances that take place over the three-day celebration.

Every year during the third week of March, one of the main agricultural zones of Costa Rica, Orotina, puts on a fruit festival to celebrate its heritage, culture, and agricultural traditions. Farmers are carefully selected to display and sell their fruit based on the quality of their fruit and their dedication to environmentally friendly farming practices. There is a huge open-air market, workshops that are aimed at teaching farmers and attendees environmental awareness, a Miss International Fruit beauty pageant, a tope (horse parade), music, food and drinks, and carnival rides and games. This is a great place to experience all of the amazing exotic fruits of Costa Rica.

Every October for 10 days a massive party and celebration takes place on the Caribbean coast in the city of Limon. The Limon Carnival is a celebration of the Afro-Caribbean culture and those who originally came to the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica to work for the banana plantations and railroads. This lively event is Limon’s version of Carnival in Rio de Janeiro. There are incredible food vendors, tons of music and dancing, live performances, parades, and a lot of drinking. This is a party you don’t want to miss!