National Arts Festival returns

By Patricia Gómez | Special to The Tico Times

This year, the National Arts Festival (FNA) inauguration will take place April 5 at 7 p.m. in Mora’s Central Park in San José. The show “Central America in Marimbas: Fraternal Chords” along with the music of the Fab Breast and colorful pyrotechnic displays will open the festivities.

“The festival is the people, and we invite you to participate,” organizer Anselmo Navarro said.

Mora, Santa Ana and Puriscal – the cities in which the festival takes place – are known for investing in culture and programs for safeguarding cultural heritage, arts and education and preserving tradition. Other neighboring communities such as Guayabo Piedades, Río Oro, Picagres, Llano Grande, Piedras Negras, Jaris, Tabarcia, Matinilla, Salitral, Barrio España, Brasil and others will also participate.

The FNA will display the work of more than 2,000 artists and put on more than 300 shows. There will also be workshops, reading activities, book exchanges and a decoration project in which artists are responsible for adorning a nursing home in Ciudad Colón.

Productions include “The Armored Reason” written by renowned playwright Aristides Vargas and directed by Silvia Arce, which will be staged Tuesday, April 9, at 6 p.m. in the Theater of La Palestra, in Ciudad Colón. Admission is free. About 450,000 visitors are expected to turn out.

For more information see www.festivaldelasartes.go.cr or call 2010-1190 or 2010-1187.