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Big holiday events just won't be held this year

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff


Christmas will be dull in San José.

The Sala IV constitutional court has canceled the traditional Zapote fiesta, a week-long carnival with rides, food booths, beer gardens and Costa Rican bull fights.

The tope horse encounter that draws thousands of riders and their mounts to the capital every Dec. 26 is in danger.

And visitors and residents can forget about the Dec. 27 carnival, which lacks a sponsor, a budget and the municipal will to put on the event.

The Sala IV ruled that twin faults under the Zapote festival area represented a danger to the public attending there because there were few provisions for emergencies. The Zapote festival has become a challenge for police, who flood the area to stop fights and petty crime.

The Asamblea Legislativa has had plans to put up an office tower for lawmakers at the Zapote site. The Sala IV decision would seem to rule out that use, too.

A money maker for the Zapote festival was the bull fights where informal bull fighters flood the
ring and confuse a fighting bull. The bull races around the ring while the many human participants distract it by slapping its rump or waving clothing.

Bulls have short attention spans, so most informal bull fighters survive the encounter. However, each year a handful of participants are mauled by bulls and are pushed through a special slot into the medical clinic adjacent to the ring.

The television feed for the bull fighting is sold internationally.

The tope has more political weight than the carnival, although the latter is better attended by spectators. Dec. 26 is the day of the horseman in Costa Rica and even those who may not be able to distinguish a horse from a Zapote bull are in the saddle that day, particularly when presidential and legislative elections are near.

The major event still standing for the Yule season is the Dec. 16 Festival de la Luz, the evening parade of lights. That event is certain under municipal sponsorship and with plenty of commercial sponsors, who also prepare giant floats.

The tope Dec. 26 still is a maybe as organizers attempt to find financial backing. But there is little chance that the Zapote fiesta or the Dec. 27 carnival will be resurrected, said officials.