January 05The Copa del Café, a week-long tennis tournament, draws an international collection of talented teenagers.
February 05 - (Puerto Viejo) The South Caribbean Music Festival takes place during the months of February and March. Offering music from Costa Rica and the children's theatre. Performances take place on Fridays and Saturdays.
March 05 - (Puerto Viejo) The South Caribbean Music Festival takes place during the months of February and March. Offering music from Costa Rica and the children's theatre. Performances take place on Fridays and Saturdays.
- National Orchid Show, Featuring 500-plus species, a weekend-long festival, takes place in the Colegio de Medicos y Cirujanos headquarters in Sabana Sur every March.
April 05GATA/AZPHAULT - Spring Break! Featuring but not limited to: L'Negro, JUBI, LOKI, L.P.
May 05 On May 15, the Día del Boyero (“Day of the Oxcart Driver”) is held in San Antonio de Escazú near San José. Activities include parades featuring brighly colored oxcarts, as well as blessing of animals and crops by the local priest.
August 05 Celebrating International Black People’s Day and taking place in San José every August, the cultural week Semana Afro-Costarricense’s highlights are lectures, panel discussions, and displays.
-August 15th, Mothers Day
September 05 At 6 PM on Sept. 15, the Nation’s Independence Day (which is also that of all of Central America), the Freedom Torch, relayed by a chain of student runners stretching all the way from Guatemala, arrives in San José, and Ticos join in singing the national anthem. That evening schoolchildren march in farole (lantern) parades, carrying handmade lanterns along the route.
October 05
November 05 Sponsored by the Asociación Canófila Costarricense every Nov., the International Dog Show has a splendid assortment of dogs.
December 05 year’s end fiestas: Commencing with the distribution of the aguinaldo, the annual bonus given to salaried workers, the city’s liveliest time is during the month of Dec.
Sidewalks are crowded with chinamos stalls which sell toys, nativity creche paraphernalia, and fruit such as apples and grapes. Merchants are open for extended hours, and the streets get wilder and wilder as the month progresses.
During the last week of Dec. and extending through the beginning of January, bullfights are held at the Zapote ring daily
The Topé, a procession of horses, departs from Paseo Colón, proceeds along Av. Central and ends at Plaza Viquez.
Finally, a dance in Parque Central welcomes the New Year.
