The Zarcero Municipal Band is set to return home to Costa Rica after a spectacularly successful tour of California, cementing their status as the most accomplished international band in Rose Parade history.
A delegation of over 600 people—including more than 300 band members—will arrive back in the country in the coming days following their show-stealing performance at the traditional 2024 Rose Parade on January 1st. After a well-deserved vacation, the group plans to hold auditions in a few months and begin mapping out ambitious future projects, according to musical director Elesban Rodríguez.
Remarkably, this latest parade makes the Zarcero Band the first and only Costa Rican group to perform twice at the prestigious event (2020 and 2023), having already been invited back to audition for 2025.
Beyond California, the increasingly globetrotting band has received invites to upcoming events in Hawaii, mainland U.S., and Japan after once again wowing American audiences.
Rose Parade organizers highlighted the Zarcero musicians’ 2024 outing as the outright best presentation in the long history of the Pasadena institution. Fittingly, director Elesban Rodríguez was awarded the Michael D Sevell Award—the first international honoree—in recognition of his dedication to community-building through youth engagement.
The award was presented alongside the band’s full musical and artistic showcase at the BandFest lead-up to the main New Year’s fanfare.
Rodríguez summed up the entire California extravaganza as an “undisputed success,” happily noting, “we set out to showcase Latin and Costa Rican music on the world stage—and I’d say we absolutely accomplished that goal.”
Between over 50 million viewers tuned into broadcasts in 90 countries and upwards of 750,000 live spectators, the Zarcero Band seized a truly unmatched global spotlight. Performing under the 2024 theme “Celebrating a World of Music,” they represented Costa Rica among around twenty total bands.
After previous appearances by the Cartago Conservatory (2005) and Acosta Band (2019), the magnificent Zarcero musicians marked Costa Rica’s third appearance and certainly its greatest success to-date at the Rose Parade.
