Costa Rica Power Team

Sunday marks the official start of the Christmas season in San José.

The kickoff will be highlighted by the traditional Entrada de Santos y Boyeros, which is a procession of carretas pulled by bueyes with santos aboard. Boyeros are the men who care for and lead oxen, and the bueyes are the oxen,  giants who lumber without complaint.

It has been traditional for the ox cart drivers to assemble the Saturday before at Parque La Sabana for the Festival Campesino, where the rural celebrations of songs, dances and food take hold. The public is invited to this, too.

The ox carts provided the transportation from the Central Valley and elsewhere to the Pacific port of Puntarenas for the golden grain that thrust Costa Rica into the international marketplace. The coffee grains travel in more modern fashion now, but the carreta or ox cart lingers on with some use in muddy rural fincas. The boyeros may look rural as they lead their beasts up Paseo Colón and Avenida 2, but under those wide-brimmed hats there may be a lawyer or a physician or some other professional. Keeping hungry bueyes can be an expensive hobby.

The brightly painted ox cart is a Costa Rican icon but most of the fancy work did not appear until the early days of the 20th century when an Italian in Escazú began to imitate the carts of his native country.

The santos or saints are the wooden representations of holy men, the Virgin Mary and Jesus Christ. A life-size San José, the municipality’s patron, usually takes the lead cart.

The morning procession of ox carts is a show stopper and a photographic must for tourists.

Costa Ricans take their ox carts seriously, and so does the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, which dubbed the oxen and carts as intangible cultural heritage.

Another tradition begins Dec. 8. This is the  avenidazo or celebrations along Avenida Central and the pedestrian boulevard in downtown San José in conjunction with the Compañía Nacional de Fuerza y Luz. The Noches Culturales Navideñas include musical groups and the tradition of throwing confetti at passers-by, a

A statue of San José with the child Jesus
usually leads the procession. This is a 2006
shot.

practice the municipality is trying to end.

Dec. 13 is the traditional parade of lights dedicated this year to María José Castillo, the Latin American Idol runnerup. Hundreds of thousands of people (The city says a million) will line the parade route to see elaborate floats, called carrozas in Spanish, bands and other entertainers. Oh, yeah, the chubby guy in the red suit, too. The show starts in La Sabana at 6 p.m. with fireworks. Then marchers go up Paseo Colón and Avenida 2.

Dec. 25, Christmas Day, begins the Fiesta de San José at the Zapote fairgrounds. This carnival runs until Jan. 4 this year. Here is where Ticos and Ticas show off their bravery by getting in the ring with a 1,200-pound fighting bull. The Cruz Roja and first aid experts will be in attendance.

The Tope Nacional, the celebration of horsemanship, takes place the day after Christmas as the capital is flooded with thousands of horses and riders who also occupy a traditional role in this mostly agricultural country.