The Day Guanacaste Joined Peaceful Costa  Rica

Tamarindo is located in the Guanacaste province which is one of the most beautiful regions of Costa Rica. It has stunning beaches, some of them perfect for surfing and others to relax and swim in calm waters, also great biodiversity to enjoy adventure and gorgeous views all year long.

Last Tuesday, July 25, Tamarindo and all Costa Ricans were celebrating Guanacaste Annexation Day. It was a huge party for all the local people. Music, food and fun activities flooded the towns, but what was it exactly?

History Of Annexation Day

Before July 25/1824, Guanacaste was part of Nicaragua, which at that time was involved in many civil wars. This is why the people from Guanacaste decided to take a vote to stop being part of Nicaragua and join the peaceful and beautiful Costa Rica. Guanacaste had three main cities Sta. Cruz, Nicoya and Liberia.

Two of them voted yes to the annexation and that is how peacefully and by choice Guanacaste started being part of Costa Rica.
Guanacastecans take big pride o being part of Costa Rica and claim they joined by choice and democracy and because this brought them so much joy, they still celebrate until this day

How do they celebrate?

All Towns in Guanacaste explode with music, art and happiness ever y July 25.

It is a national holiday so nobody works because it is a day to celebrate with typical dances, food and the traditional Costa Rica’s national instrument “La Marimba”
It is impossible to be here and not get impregnated by happiness and joy. If you go to the supermarket you will find all the employees dressed in their typical attires, loud marimba music and free typical food.

Every year the town of VillaReal, which is 5 minutes aways from Tamarindo, has a huge party, it is like a “street fair” where you could try the local cuisine and drinks, dance and participate in the contests held.

All public schools in the area participate with food, dance and music, everyone was dancing since 10:00 am in the morning, kids had special activities and competitions for them, it was a all joy and fun.

It is beautiful to see how people celebrate and take pride of their culture, their beliefs and traditions, people gathering to enjoy themselves, to celebrate democracy and peace which are two core values of Costa Rican culture. This is what makes this country beautiful country to visit or live in.

Erika Barreiro.