July 25th is an important holiday in Costa Rica. It is a national holiday called Gunacaste Day or Nicoya’s Annexation Day. But while it’s focus is on the Guanacaste province where Real Surf Trips is located, it is actually celebrated by the entire country.
In 1824, there was a civil war in Nicaragua and the citizens of Nicoya requested that they be a part of Costa Rica, removing themselves as citizens from Nicaragua. The request was approved and since then, the Guanacaste province, where Real Surf Trips is located, has become known as one of the most beautiful and the happiest province of Costa Rica. Not only are the people super friendly, it is also recognized as an area with an amazing tropical dry forest full of abundant green vegetation, blue crystal clear water and both white and black sand beaches and extraordinary wildlife on land and in the ocean. These are just a few reasons why it is one the most visited and popular areas in all of Central America.
This date is celebrated with activities and festivals in nearly every city around Costa Rica. Parades will be held in downtown areas where the kids will march wearing masks and dressing up in traditional costumes. You will also find streets filled with local handicrafts and people participating in native folk dances like the “Caballito Nicoyano” and “Punto Guanacasteco”. There will be typical music playing with local bands and the Marimba, a native instrument that the local people love to hear.
You may see concerts, fireworks at night and of course, you cannot miss out on the delicious local food that you can try at the festivals like the popular Tamales that Ticos love and other items like grilled meat with tortillas, “biscochos”, “empanadas” and different kinds of homemade bread.
Another big and maybe one of the most common activities to see in every festival in Guanacaste is the rodeo which is totally different than the ones in Spain or Mexico where they kill the animal. In our peace loving country of Costa Rica, it is just about having fun without hurting the bull.
Holidays like Guanacaste Day are a great chance to learn more about the fun and happy culture that Guanacaste and Costa Rica have to offer to the world.
Real Surf Trips in Playa Negra, Costa Rica provides its guests with first class accommodations, one-of-a-kind service and over 20 years of local surf knowledge, guaranteed to give you the Costa Rica Surf Trip you’ve been dreaming of!