No menu items!

COSTA RICA'S LEADING ENGLISH LANGUAGE NEWSPAPER

HomeEventsA year ends with no party: The Fiestas de Zapote

A year ends with no party: The Fiestas de Zapote

Costa Rica will celebrate its iconic Fiestas de Zapote.

The week-long festivities — part carnival, part parade and part Tico-style bullfight — included the “Tope Nacional,” the country’s biggest horse parade. A holiday tradition for many Ticos, it hosted about 5,000 riders and their equine companions decked out in their finest.

Meanwhile, at the Campo Ferial in the eastern San José district of Zapote, more than 30 different mechanical rides and myriad food stands, bars, tamale vendors and other attractions thrilled tens of thousands of visitors each night.

The Tico Times

For many, the biggest attraction was “toros a la Tica” — a Costa Rican style of bullfighting.

Costa Ricans packed the stands (and watched on national TV) as brave members of the public who signed up as amateur bullfighters, or improvisados, provoked the bull, dodged attacks and competed for prizes — and recognition from the crowd.

The bullfights in Costa Rica — controversial despite efforts not to physically injure the animals — go back to the colonial era, when they emerged together with the development of livestock and Spanish influence.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, there will be no Fiestas de Zapote in 2020. Right now, each hospital bed is essential — and adding a few gored improvisados won’t help a saturated health system.

Instead, we’ll enjoy the end of 2020 in a more socially distant (but decidedly less entertaining) fashion, with the hope that next year will feature the bright lights, the carneys, and the people who dare to go face-to-face with a 500 kg beast that has two weapons growing out of its head.

Ojalá. 

Popular Articles

Costa Rica to Launch Online Driver’s License Renewal Service in October

Starting October 2025, renewing or replacing a driver’s license in Costa Rica will be as simple as a few clicks, thanks to a new...

How Pope Francis Transformed Vatican Finances, Discipline & Ecology

Pope Francis implemented during his pontificate a number of significant measures—from reforming the Roman Curia to combating sexual abuse of minors within the Church....

Bérénice Béjo Stars in “Mexico 86” as a Revolutionary Guatemalan Mother

“Mother can also fight, rifle in hand, when democracy is in danger,” declares French actress Bérénice Béjo, who plays a Guatemalan activist in “Mexico...
spot_img
Costa Rica Tours
Costa Rica Coffee Maker Chorreador
Costa Rica Coffee Maker Chorreador
Costa Rica Travel Insurance
Costa Rica Rocking Chait

Latest Articles