Those wacky 'bullfights' will be back again this year
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

The bulls will be back at the Zapote festival this Christmas, much to the delight of those Ticos and Ticas who want to test their courage and tourists daring enough to get in the ring.

The health ministry shut the festival down last year creating a noticeable vacancy in the celebration of the Christmas holidays.

For anyone who does not understand, here is the concept:

A normally intelligent individual gets in a ring with 50 or 60 other persons and tries to stay alive while bull after bull is released into the crowd. These are not like Ferdinand, the Ch*ldren's book bull last seen sitting under a tree and sniffing flowers. These are the real deal: hardened, bad-tempered creatures who really do not like Ticos running up and slapping them on the rump.

Those in the ring have to be fast afoot, although bulls do not have a long attention span and are easily distracted. The audience cheers as participants are propelled through the air or cringe on the ground under the sharp horns of an unhappy bull.

Many leap to temporary safety over the interior walls of the ring. Sometimes so does a bull.

Eventually a rider comes along, ropes the tired bull and makes way for a new one.

A tragedy has not happened recently at Zapote, but the Tico bull fights are a sometimes fatal staple at fairs and fiestas around the country. In this version of the sport the human dies and not the bull. The Cruz Roja even has its own mini-hospital constructed at the bull ring. It gets a lot of use.

The Municipalidad de San José has taken over responsibility for the bull fights, and a new ring is going to be constructed. There also will be a scaled-down version of the Zapote festival this fighting bull
OK, who's next?

year. In the past some 150 bars, temporary dance halls and midway attractions were crowded into the grounds. This year the number will be 50 or less. One of the main health concerns last year was the lack of clear exits from the festival grounds in case of emergencies. The area appears to be over a geological fault.

There also is big money in the festival and in the bulls. Humans challenging the bulls will be televised by both major San José stations, and the overseas rights are profitable. Last year one station even found another Christmas festival that had the Tico brand of bull baiting. A second station has a whole series of variety acts planned and advertising sold for each holiday night, so last year workers decorated a sound stage to appear to be a booth at the festival.

The bulls begin Dec. 25 under the proposed plan. There will be 23 confrontations between humans and bulls. Of course, various permits will be needed, and the project still could be derailed. The festival runs through Jan. 1.

The Christmas horse parade, called the Tope, will again be the day after Christmas in San José, but there is no word if the Dec. 27 carnival parade will be resurrected.

They're free to get into,

In Zapote they charge an entrance fee to see the bullfights, I think it was more or less 3000 colones.

If you have never been to the bullfights in Zapote it is an absolute MUST SEE. Great entertainment and all of Costa Ricas finest are in attendance. If you are looking for the non-pro, this is one hell of a place to be.

dapanz1

My bad.

...stick to your specialties- fish and transvestites.

Yeah, but I hear those non-pro bullfighters have a really tough time once they get in the ring...

Yeah, but I hear those non-pro bullfighters have a really tough time once they get in the ring...