It seems these days that you can find just about anything on the internet. This is NOT true when it comes to Guanacaste national fiesta schedules!

Exact fiesta dates vary from town to town, and the dates are surprisingly difficult to nail down – you’ll find lots of conflicting information on various websites.

Lucky for you, I’ve done all of the tedious research so you don’t have to!  After much diligence verifying information on the phone, here is a list of this season’s 2014-2015 dates! (NOTE: watch out for the two dates below in red – those are estimates that I am not 100% certain about).

If you’ve never been to a typical Costa Rican fiesta – GO!! They are incredibly fun — entire towns turn out for music, horse parades, street food, carnival rides and Costa Rican-style bullfighting.

December 20: Christmas night in Santa Cruz — a night full of Christmas spirit and a parade. Festivities usually get going around 7pm. (In Spanish, this I called Noche criolla Navideña).

December 21: CEPIA  is hosting a Christmas party for over 400 students at the Huacas community center from 8:30pm-4:00pm. They are seeking volunteers!

December 24-28:  Fiestas in Belen de Carrillo, about 45 minutes away from Tamarindo.

December 24-28:  Fiestas Paso Hondo de Santa Cruz

December 26-29:  Fiestas Matapalo de Santa Cruz

December 31- Jan 4:  Fiestas Paraiso de Santa Cruz

January 9-12:  Fiestas Tempate de Santa Cruz

January 14-18:  Fiestas típicas nacionales de Santa Cruz (typical national fiestas of Santa Cruz (call 2680-2412 for more info).

This is one of the biggest fiestas in the area. Activities start at noon on Wednesday the 14th with a commencement accompanied by beautiful decorated horses. Bullfighting will take place at 2pm and again at 7pm from Wednesday to Saturday. Artisans, food vendors, bars and dances will be out and about all week, in addition to a cool amusement park with carnival rides. Sunday the fiestas will wrap up with an impressive parade of boyeros, or cattle drivers.

January 30- Febrero 2*  Fiestas in Huacas. I called and verified these dates, but I’m not 100% satisfied that the people on the phone knew what they were talking about. So don’t set this one in stone just yet…I’ll update a bit closer to the date.

January 29- Feb 2 typical fiestas in Playas del Coco, about 1 hour 15 minutes from Tamarindo.

February 4-9: Typical fiestas in Nicoya. The horse parade, or tope, will be held on the 7th.

February 15-18*:  Typical fiestas in Brasilito. (These were the dates from last year — exact dates to be confirmed).

Feb 26- March 8:  Typical fiestas of Liberia. This is perhaps the biggest and the baddest party of them all! It’s about an hour and a half away from Tamarindo, but totally worth it.

Many of these dates are based on this chart by the Asociaciones de desarollo y comisiones de fiestas nacionales.  I called and verified as many as possible.

Photo credits:  of Genna Marie of Tamarindo Family Photos 

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Andrew Makarik

to@welovecostarica.com

Andrew Makarik is the main editor of WeLoveCostaRica, a fan of this sunny country. He is also a loving husband and a has a lovely daughter. By being a devoted family man and the biggest Costa Rica fan, he wants to make more people feel at home there. WeLoveCostaRica unites people and helps them find new home or a new travel destination. This website is a friendly community where everyone can find not only information, but also new friends and travel pals. Andrew is also passionate about IT and programming, so he himself maintains a friendly atmosphere in this cozy environment of WeLoveCostaRica.com.