Big Arts Festival Canceled in Puerto Viejo

The third annual ArteViva festival in Puerto Viejo, scheduled for this weekend, was canceled unexpectedly after the area’s municipality revoked the festival’s permits, according to the event’s organizer, Claudio Ambroso.

He said that a person from outside Puerto Viejo filed a request for an injunction against the Talamanca municipality with the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court (Sala IV) for an unknown reason, and for now the local government must forfeit their power to grant permits for large gatherings.

The municipality would not comment on the matter.

“Carrying on with the activities would be ugly and not legal and not possible,” Ambroso said. “We are pretty sad.”

The festival is organized by the Escuela de Artes del Caribe Sur (The School of South Caribbean Arts), a non-profit that provides arts education to local school children, and was scheduled to today.

Ambroso said the festival is their major fundraiser, and if they are not able to eventually hold the event, they will be hardpressed to provide services to their community this year.