masquerade day: how the tradition was born

How the Tradition was Born

The masquerade tradition comes from the

Colonial Cartago, especially from people in

communities that got together to show

traditional characters. In 1996, it was

established October 31st as the National

Masquerade Day.

During the parade, you can see characters

such as “la muerte, el diablo, la segua, and el

padre sin cabeza” among others. All of them

represent cultural elements or stories that

people have shared in Costa Rica over time.

Masquerade day origins go back to the

traditional “turnos” or town carnivals where

people organized activities to collect money to

raise funds for the town church expenses.

In the middle of “ventas, bombetas” and

music, people enjoyed the masks which

danced, ran and chased young and adults

using their so feared “chilillos”.

Text adapted and translated from: http://si.cultura.cr/component/sicultura/articulo/dia-de-la-mascarada-tradicional-3383.html, visited on June 25th 2014 at 6 40 pm.