Considering Costa Rica’s deeply rooted Catholic tradition, Christmas is one of the most important Holidays in the country. Here, it is the commemoration of Christ’s birth. In some households, it is even customary to tell the children that the one delivering gifts is El Niñito Dios (“The Child God”, or Baby Jesus) instead of Santa Claus. But this is not the only characteristic aspect of Costa Rica’s Christmas.
Listed below are 5 things you should know about how Christmas is celebrated in Costa Rica:
1. It’s All About Family
In Costa Rica, Christmas is a family Holiday. While some people might attend New Year’s celebrations with friends, Christmas is almost exclusively spent with family and at home. It is customary to hold dinners on the night of December 24th and lunches on the 25th for the whole family, including uncles, aunts, grandparents, and cousins. For Costa Ricans, there is nothing like celebrating Christmas with loved ones, sharing meals and reconnecting. This tradition expands through the whole month of December as it is considered important to not only spend time with the family during holiday days, but also during the preparation for it - buying gifts, decorating the house.
2. Costa Rica’s Official Christmas Dish
Another important aspect of the Costa Rican Christmas tradition is food. One dish that can’t be absent from a Costa Rican Christmas table is tamales. This corn-based dish is made with pork, rice, peas, and carrot slices and it is served wrapped in plantain leaves. It is a deeply-rooted tradition for Costa Ricans to meet with their mothers, tías, and abuelas for the tamaleadas, an activity where all the family comes together to make the tamales that they will enjoy all-throughout December.
3. Warm Weather and Aire Navideño
While most people’s idea of December is that of a white Christmas as shown in movies, Costa Rica’s isn’t quite like that. Costa Rica is a tropical country, so it doesn’t have the typical seasons known in other regions. In Costa Rica, there are just two different seasons, the dry and the rainy ones. The first of the two is known as the country’s summer and it usually starts in the beginning-to-mid-December and lasts until April or May. Because of this, the weather during Christmas is usually warm and mild and it is characterized by a serene and refreshing breeze the locals refer to as Aire navideño (“Christmas Air”). Because of the pleasant weather, December is a great time to travel to Costa Rica and visit its array of breathtaking beaches and biodiversity-preserving National Parks.
4. Christmas In November
Christmas activities in Costa Rica officially take place in December, just like they do everywhere else worldwide. However, for the locals, the preparations begin much earlier. If you visit Costa Rica, you’ll realize it’s not unusual to see houses already decorated and oozing with the Christmas spirit from early to mid-November. There are some households that even go as far as lighting up the Christmas tree as soon as late October. Costa Ricans joke that Christmas begins the moment 15 de Setiembre, the country’s Independence Day in September, passes.
5. A Festival of Light
Other things you should know about Christmas in Costa Rica are the activities and festivals you can enjoy while visiting the country. One of the main seasonal events in Costa Rica is the Festival de la Luz (“Light Festival”), held yearly in the capital city of San Jose. The Festival is a parade in which several different institutions, both public and private, make parade floats full of lights to illuminate the city on the night of the second Saturday of December. The floats move across San Jose’s center along with bands that march at the beat of Christmas carols. One of the key aspects of the Festival is the figure of the Mariscal. This is a title given by the city council to a Costa Rican who has made an exceptional contribution to the country. Some past mariscales have included athletes, scientists, musicians, sculptors, painters, and the country’s Firefighter Corps.
6. Bonus… New Year’s Superstitions
While technically not Christmas, there are a lot of superstitions Costa Ricans have regarding New Year and what to do in order to have a prosperous year. In this bonus point, we include some of them so you can try them this New Year's. It is believed that if, when the clock strikes midnight on New Year's Eve, you run around the block with a suitcase, you will travel in the year to come. Another superstition is that you should wear yellow underwear on January 1st to have a year full of luck. It is also believed that putting a Santa Lucía, a small lilac Costa Rican wildflower, in your wallet, manifests money. Another traditional belief is called the pintas. This is the supposition that the weather on the first 12 days of the year gives a glimpse at how the weather is going to be in the corresponding months (January 1st indicating January, January 2nd, February, and so forth).
Costa Rican Christmas is the most beautiful time of the year to celebrate these wonderful traditions with those we love the most. Out of Office Villa guests have all enjoyed the tropical holiday feel whenever they stayed with us during the month of December. We invite you to book your next holiday escape with us.
Comments