Christmas in Costa Rica

Christmas in Costa Rica

Costa Rican is a largely based Catholic population. Because of this many citizens celebrate Christmas in Costa Rica with just as much passion as other Catholic countries. Christmas in Costa Rica is an exciting time filled music, lights, trees, decoration, and of course gifts.

It seems that Costa Rican spare no time in getting ready for Christmas. Many businesses and families start to get ready for Christmas in Costa Rica around the middle of November. That’s when you start to see all the holiday sales and lights going up.

Christmas Trees

While there’s not exactly a plethora of pine trees in Costa Rica, there is no shortage cypress trees or coffee branches. Many families decorate dried coffee branches or small cypress tress much like the rest of the world Does.

While Costa Rica follows many of the same Christmas traditions as the rest of the world does. They have one tradition that means the most to them. This is their family nativity scene, or as the call them, portals.

Costa Rica Christmas Traditions
The portal is one of the most important Costa Rica Christmas traditions. Many families put more emphasis on the family portal than the tree. The portal often takes up an entire corner of the house and is always displayed with pride and prominence.

Costa Ricans don’t put the baby Jesus into the manger until midnight on December 24th; which makes since due to the fact that Jesus wasn’t born until then. This is also when the adults celebrate their gift exchange.

Christmas Events in Costa Rica

The main Christmas event in Costa Rica is the Festival de la Luz. During this time, San Jose is decorated with lights and transformed into mesmerizing array of lights and decorations.

There are also plenty of parades including the popular Tope parade. At the Tope, you’ll find horse and bull riders showing off their clothes and skills, floats, bands, clowns, and much more.