www.CostaRicaTicas.com

I know I spelled that wrong (Festival of Lights)...Anyone know what date it is this year? Thx.

According to the calendar the parade is Dec. 12

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Living well is the best revenge
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwUtj_YnNoY

is "Luces"

Sweet! For those of us down there at the time we should go as a group representing the M-gers of CR! We could even bring our "dates".

Yes you guys should definitely get out and experience the Christmas spirit in SJ There will be lots of events going on around the city, it's a great time to visit CR, take your novia to Parque Central at night.
http://www.teletica.com/videos.php see last video titled "En San José ya se respiran los aires navideños"

The parade is quite an event if you've never been, take some cheap gifts/toys to pass out to the local K*ds, we had blinky-toys and silly string one year and us loco gringos were the hit of the party, (on that street corner anyway).

You are right those events and Zapote can be great; however, keep in mind the pickpockets are in force during the parade and other events and often drunk Ticos can get a bit bummed at gringos with younger ladies.

Yeah....that prabably wouldn't be the best place for a gringo to be walking arm-in-arm with a chica, one third to one half his age, and it's prabably not just the "drunk ticos" who would frown upon it. I try to use a "little discression" and to be sensitive to the locals. It would be especially bad, if the gringo had the "ugly American" look and behaviour to him......and the chica looked like she just stepped out ot the Del Rey.

The tamales festival is today in Sabana park.

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Just my 2C...

I don't know about San Jose, but in Colombia there are charted open air buses/caravans that cruise about the cities in the evenings thru the different barrios looking at all the Christmas lights....

the larger caravans have food and drink and music onboard...a party on wheels!

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I will be in town
My favorita does not want to go... she has good reason to many people pick pockets and not wanting to be seen with a gringo
I want to check it out still
There is the CRT meet and greet at the Dunn Inn that Friday the 11th
I say if you want to see the parade meet up there first and make a plan
One post I saw about this was to rent a room along the route ... what hotels have a view of the parade passing by I know this a long shot but it would be fun to have a room to watch from and party in safety... then my girl would go

Screw the novia, well screw her then go to the parade with amigos it will probably be much more fun without her whiny ass. We had the master suite one year at the Pres. with the parade out the window and on the big screen but it was much more fun down in the crowd on Ave 2. It would be dumb to miss an event for fear of the pickpocket myth put your money in your damn sock and get out there and enjoy life Nhhank Or else sit your gringo asses on a barstool all week in "safety" talking about putas and watch it on tv... we don't really care Note the parade takes a long time and doesn't get downtown until later.

Thanks Paco
That was the kick in the ass I needed
What time does the parade get downtown???
And to think I was going to ask if it was on TV
This is a once a year non -gulch in the gulch activity
Bring on the luz

I can't find the schedule anyplace yet but it will be in the news this week. Yes it will be on all the TV channels, Ticos come from all over the country, think I read over 1 million last year packed the calles last year to see the parade and fireworks.

From the Hotel Ambassador you should have a good view.

The various events surrounding the Fiesta de Luz OTHER than the light parade (such as "Toros a la Tica") sound like they could be interesting. HOWEVER, I went to see the parade a few years ago and I can tell you I was MUCH LESS enamored with it than Paco appears to be. For a variety of reasons.

For example, I'd certainly NOT describe the pickpocket thing as a "myth". Anytime we, particularly as obvious gringos, put ourselves in situations where we'll be jostled by crowds of people out on the streets of SJ, we become obvious and attractive targets for those few ticos who would take advantage of it. IMHO, anybody who would tell you that is a "myth" is living in denial and delusion. OTOH, I'll at least agree with Paco that the possibility of pickpocketing, BY ITSELF, should not be reason to pass on going to see the parade. Those risks are at least partially controllable. Just don't bring lots of money (something I always advise people not to do at ANY time they go out on the street). What little you do bring, stow it as securely as possible. And if you decide to bring a camera (to take pictures of the floats or people), keep a rock solid grasp on it at all times.

The parade itself is IMHO pretty lame compared to other parades you have probably seen back in the US (its certainly no Macy's). The locals certainly get into it, but by US standards I don't think any of us will be that impressed.

Even if one might consider the parade to be impressive, there is still the problem of getting decent views (at least from street level). Ticos may be relatively short, but put enough of them in a crowd and it still can get pretty difficult to see clearly over their heads more than a 10-20 feet. People stake out positions at street side hours before the parade is due to pass by such that by the time the parade does pass by the crowds are several "rows" thick. Add to that the fact that many bring small stools to step on so that they can see over the crowd, or raise their K*ds on to their shoulders and it becomes difficult for even a tall gringo (like me) to see over everyone for a decent look at the floats. Your only options to overcome all of this is either: 1) to come as early as everyone else and to wait around forever for the floats to come by, 2) to muscle your way to the front rows pushing aside everyone who, unlike you, had the foresight and patience to show up early enough to get a good position or 3) pay a vendor to rent your own stool for you to use and join the "arms race" of who can block the view of the most people behind them.

Even assuming you don't mind dealing with the street side viewing problems in one of these ways, you still have other problems of comfort: a) having to stand around on the street for extended periods of time with few if any opportunities to sit and rest your feet (without relinquishing your spot), b) it is usually fairly cold at night at this time of year, c) you will be buffeted around by the crowd or even pushed and shoved by other late arriving ticos using the "muscling their way in" approach and cutting their way in front of that spot you so patiently staked out and d) you avoid being pickpocketed by having to be constantly vigilant, paranoid and stressed out that someone might be trying to sneak their way into your pockets. I don't know about you, but that hardly sounds like a recipe for a particularly comfortable or fun time to me.

Some people might enjoy the atmosphere on the street for its street party qualities even though the parade itself is either a bit disappointing or difficult to see. And I agree from a people watching standpoint that aspect of the parade might be a little interesting. After all, there will be some hot chicas mixed into the crowd. Unfortunately, since ticos often bundle up like it was the north pole whenever temperatures drop below 60 degrees you may not be able to tell how hot those chicas really are. There will also be lots of cute K*ds running around throwing confetti on everyone who passes by (or apparently silly string on some street corners). And that sounds fun and festive until you consider where that confetti may have been. Vendors sell small bags of it for people to use, but since those K*ds don't even have the money to pay for those small bags they usually resort to scrapping up the USED confetti off the street and recycling it. Considering that drunks often piss in the streets and possibly TB-ridden ticos often spit, I think you'd be best advised to try to avoid getting hit by any of that confetti (as the CR health authorities have also warned) and that is not always so easy to do as some of those K*ds can be extremely persistant and aggresive in their "confetti attacks" even against people who obviously don't want to get hit.

You can tell that I'm obviously not as big a fan of this event as Paco is and obviously that chica mentioned has a similar issues. However, I suppose if you've never seen it before or experienced the parade on the street, you might want to check it out at least once (before you reach the same conclusions as me). Just be prepared to be underwhelmed.

I think a better approach might be to do as others have suggested and rent out a hotel room from which you can get a decent view of the parade on the street below. In fact, this is what many ticos already do. You can see them not just in the windows of the hotels but also in the windows of the various office and bank buildings that line Avenida 2. This has the advantages of a) being warm and comfortable, with seats (or beds) to retire to when you want to take a break from the parade viewing (or are waiting for it to start) b) being able to watch the leadup to the parade on TV rather than mill around on the street staking out your spot, c) providing an eagle's eye view rather than having to stand on your tip toes to see over the heads of everyone in front of you for an obscured view of the floats and d) being able to hang out privately with your chicas rather than stir up any more anti-monger sentiment by parading with them on the street.

If you want to go the hotel room route, I'm thinking the Ambassador would be the best place to see the parade from. Unfortunately, I'm guessing probably everyone else would be thinking the same thing or else think the other competing hotels mentioned would be and thus probably have already booked up all the rooms with the best views (or even marginal views).