Costa Rica Entertainment News – For many of us October 31st is a day where we will be dressing up in costumes and celebrating Halloween, but there is another festival you can attend where you will see different kinds of masks displayed. Since 1996 there was been a unique event in Costa Rica that promotes the culture of the country, the National Day of the Traditional Masks. (Dia Nacional de las Mascaradas)
On the last day of October in Santa Cruz, Guanacaste this popular cultural event will be celebrated. The mask makers of Guanacaste join together with the “Llacuna” which is a group of mask makers from Barcelona at the the Bernabela Ramos Park. The activities start at 9am.
The event is organized by the Association of Mask Makers of Santa Cruz, with the support of the City of Santa Cruz. The festival will consist of different activities and have both regional and international guests. You will be able to watch folk dancing and demonstrations of the craft techniques used to create the masks. The festival will culminate with a parade through the main streets of Santa Cruz.
The Ministry of Culture and Youth supports the event and emphasizes the importance to Costa Ricans to keep these traditions to allow their history to live on. This is a chance for Costa Rica to pay tribute to the mask makers that retain the tradition of creating these masks through processes and techniques passes down by their ancestors.
For more information on National Day Masquerade, you can access the festival’s facebook page: facebook.com/dianacionaldelasmascaradas2014
You can also contact Mr. Francisco Jiménez from the Santa Cruz Masquerade group on Tel: 8803-5997 or Mrs. Vera Vargas, the Cultural Manager to 8321-8811.
