How Alajuela celebrates its Christmas celebrations

How Alajuela celebrates its Christmas Celebrations

parade of floats and bands in Alajuela
Parade floats are great for alternating between band and band in the Christmas parade.

In the city of Alajuela the Christmas season can be a little cold. Mostly because of the trade winds that come down from the mountains bringing cold temperatures uncommon in the canton.
But when it’s time to celebrate, the people of Alajuela put on their coats and take to the streets with all the enthusiasm of a child.
This December 2024 was no exception and several activities were organized by the municipality to celebrate Christmas.
Without further ado, let’s see a brief summary of the development of these activities.



The Festival de la Luz(Festival of light)

One of the bands performing in the parade

The Festival de Luz is a parade of floats and bands that has been held in San Jose since 1996. Since then it has grown to the point of hosting more than 1 million attendees.
The event has expanded to other cities such as Alajuela and Heredia among others, who seek to emulate to some extent the scope of the main event.
However, due to space issues these regional festivals cannot reach the importance of the one in the capital. Nevertheless, this does not stop the people of Alajuela from enjoying their own festival as if it were the most impressive in the world.
The bands and floats are the delight of young and old. Each band brings its own flavor of its place of origin with popular and original music.
Other events within the festival include dancers, baton twirlers, clowns, costumes of Christmas characters such as St. Nicholas and the Grinch among others.



Concert with the Costa Rican Philharmonic Orchestra

The Filarmonica of Costa Rica orchestra performing at Juan Santamaria Park in Alajuela City

This philharmonic has more than 21 years and 11 albums in its history. It is characterized by the inclusion of instruments that are not common in an orchestra of this type. Some of these are bass, drums and saxophone.
They also like to present a repertoire between popular and classical.
A free concert was presented on the evening of December 12 at the Juan Santamaria Park with a repertoire of popular Latin American music accompanied by different singers. People danced, enjoyed and sang to the rhythm of this music on a night marked by cold weather.
The contrast came from the warmth of the people who did not hesitate to ask for up to three more songs than those that were scheduled.



Christmas decorations

Christmas decorations in the street
Some Christmas decorations and illumination in municipal buildings and parks

The parks were filled with Christmas decorations such as trees, gates and lighting with Christmas themes.
The people of Alajuela took the opportunity to take pictures with friends and family with these decorations.
One tree was placed in the traditional place for decades, in the Juan Santamaria Park. The other was placed for the first time at the FECOSA bus station.
In addition to the decorations, there were fairs where entrepreneurs offered traditional products and handicrafts in the Central Park and Juan Santamaria Park.



christmas tree on a public park
This is the traditional Christmas tree installed in the Juan Santamaria Park

Stay tuned



We’ll be sharing more news about Alajuela cultural activities in the future so stay tuned to our blog. If you need a clean room to have a good sleep with breakfast included, our hotel is at your disposal. Remember, we are 5 minutes away from the International Airport Juan Santamaria.