Costa Rican Christmas Traditions: Lights, Fairs and the Flavors of a Country

December in Costa Rica is a season when light, memory and flavor weave themselves into a single landscape. Streets shine with lanterns and parades, families gather around foods prepared only once a year, and towns across the country transform their plazas into spaces of celebration. Each region has its own way of welcoming the festive season, yet all share the same essence: community, tradition and the unmistakable warmth of Costa Rican hospitality.

Where It All Begins: Faith, Family and Mestizo Roots

The Spiritual Foundations of December

The core of Costa Rica’s festive season is rooted in the Catholic traditions inherited during the colonial era. Nativity scenes—known as portales—take center stage in homes, businesses and public spaces. Families prepare their portal with the same devotion each year, adding moss, river stones, figurines and handcrafted animals that reflect the countryside. The season formally begins with the Misa de Gallo, a midnight mass celebrated on Costa Rican Christmas Eve, marking a spiritual transition into family gatherings and shared meals.

A Country Formed Through Cultural Interweaving

Costa Rica’s holiday traditions reflect its mestizo identity—an intertwining of Indigenous, European, African and migrant influences. These layers shaped not only the spirituality of December but also its flavor. Ingredients such as corn, pork, plantains, coffee and sugarcane—each one tied to a different chapter of history—come together in dishes that represent belonging. The result is a cuisine both humble and territorial, grounded in the country’s diverse microclimates and close relationship with the land.

December in San Jose: Lights, Streets and the Taste of the Capital

Festival de la Luz: When San Jose Glows

For nearly three decades, the Festival de la Luz has marked the unofficial start of Christmas in the capital. Thousands gather to watch illuminated floats, marching bands and fireworks move along the main avenues. Families line the streets, children cheer for their favorite bands, and visitors feel the city shift into celebration. It is one of the most anticipated public events of the year.

Urban Culture: Night Markets and Open-Air Festivities

San José’s December also belongs to its night markets and community fairs. The Avenidazo Navideño turns Avenida Central into a pedestrian corridor full of artisans, food vendors and musical performances. Pop-up markets appear across neighborhoods, offering local crafts, seasonal sweets and traditional fare. The city becomes a tapestry of aromas and textures.

Among the treats most commonly found in these urban spaces are churros, caramelized apples, cotton candy, arroz arreglado, roasted corn, vigorón, and pupusas—an example of how Costa Rica’s fairs reflect both local heritage and the influences brought by migrant communities who now call the country home.

A Pathway for Travelers: Gastronomy as Interpretation

For travelers exploring San José during this season, walking through the city becomes a sensory introduction to its cultural identity. The mix of street food, holiday lights and bustling plazas often leads visitors to seek guided tastings or curated food walks—experiences that help decipher the meaning behind the country’s iconic dishes and the stories that shaped them. These small-group routes offer a way to engage with the capital beyond surface-level tourism, revealing the cultural weight carried by everyday flavors.

Turnos and Patron Saint Festivals: Community at the Heart of Celebration

What Is a “Turno”?

A turno is one of Costa Rica’s most cherished cultural traditions: a local fair organized by communities, churches or neighborhood associations, often tied to a town’s patron saint. These events blend faith, social gathering and fundraising, and they remain a space where rural identity is celebrated with pride.

Celebrations Rooted in Faith and Food

Patron saint festivals include processions, live music, popular games, artisanal stands and, of course, food. Each community adapts the tradition to its own identity, creating a mosaic of experiences across the country.

The Flavors You’ll Find at a Costa Rican Christmas Fair

For visitors, the food offerings at a turno reveal the essence of Costa Rican comfort cuisine. Common dishes include:

• Tamales wrapped in banana leaf

• Chicharrones and pork cooked over open flame

• Arroz con pollo or arroz arreglado

• Fried chicken

• Vigorón with cabbage slaw and yuca

• Chorreadas with fresh sour cream

• Pupusas, now embraced as part of the country’s multicultural landscape

• Elotes with butter or mayonnaise

• Sweet treats like churros, cotton candy and caramel apples

• Fresh fruit drinks and, inevitably, coffee

These foods are less about indulgence and more about community—recipes cooked in the same way for generations, shared across wooden tables, temporary stalls and parish halls.

Zapote: San Jose’s End-of-Year Carnival of Flavors

Toros, Chinamos and the Pulse of December

The fair at Zapote has long been the capital’s most iconic end-of-year celebration. Known for its bullfights a la tica—non-lethal events where improvisation meets tradition—the fair also hosts mechanical rides, concerts and an endless row of chinamos (street stalls) selling snacks and festive comfort foods.

Food as the Memory of the Fair

A visit to Zapote is inseparable from its food. Here, the season’s flavors converge: pupusas beside pinchos, churros beside arroz arreglado, roasted corn, chicharrones, vigorón and sweet beverages. For many families, a December in San José is not complete without one night in Zapote.

Regional Holiday Traditions: When Geography Becomes Flavor

The Caribbean: Rhythm, Spice and Community

In Limón, December carries the imprint of Afro-Caribbean heritage. Holiday tables may include rice and beans, pan bon, gingerbread sweets and dishes that reflect the region’s deep cultural roots. Music—calypso, reggae and traditional rhythms—accompanies gatherings that blend African, European and Caribbean influences.

Guanacaste: Dust, Dance and Rural Festivities

In the province of Guanacaste, town celebrations often blend the festive spirit of December with rural traditions such as the baile del polvo, local rodeos, marimba music and food prepared over wood fire. Here, December feels warm and rustic, shaped by open landscapes and long-standing customs.

The Valle Central and Northern Regions

Small communities across the central valley and northern Costa Rica organize intimate turnos and parish festivals. These events often include Christmas pastries, sugarcane drinks, seasonal fruits, tamales and, of course, endless cups of coffee shared among neighbors.

Contemporary Costa Rican Cuisine: Creativity Blossoms in December

Costa Rica’s culinary evolution is especially visible during the holiday season. Chefs reinterpret traditional ingredients—pork, corn, herbs, plantains, cacao, seasonal fruit—through modern techniques. Tasting menus may highlight variations of tamales, reimagined pork dishes, contemporary versions of arroz con leche, or desserts infused with local spirits and citrus.

A More Intimate Way to Taste Costa Rica

For visitors seeking quieter, curated experiences, San José now offers private tasting dinners led by chefs who blend tradition with innovation. These dinners invite guests into an intimate relationship with Costa Rican ingredients, offering a thoughtful counterpoint to the energy of public fairs.

Costa Rica’s Festive Table as a Mirror of Identity

In many ways, Costa Rica’s festive tables tell the story of who we are.

We are a mestizo country at the heart of Latin America, a small territory with an extraordinary variety of microclimates and fertile soils. This geography allows us to grow an impressive range of ingredients – and our history has woven them into a cuisine that is both deeply local and quietly global.

During the end-of-year celebrations, that diversity becomes visible in every chinamo, every town fair and every family gathering. Alongside tamales, arroz con pollo and traditional sweets, you will often find pupusas, Chinese–Costa Rican dishes, Caribbean flavors and recipes brought by communities who have made Costa Rica their home. Our food does not close in on itself; it stretches its arms wide open.

For many migrants and visitors, December is a month that brings back memories of home. In Costa Rica, the easiest way to soften that nostalgia is through a plate: tasting something from their own culinary tradition while standing in a Costa Rican fair, under our December skies. In that shared space – between tamales and pupusas, between arroz cantonés and chorreadas – you can feel how this country quietly invites people not just to visit, but to belong.

For travelers who explore destinations through flavor, Costa Rica in December reveals its identity through its dishes, its plazas and its community gatherings. From tamales to street fairs, from Caribbean spices to contemporary tasting menus, each experience offers a way to understand the country more deeply.

Guided culinary walks and intimate chef-led dinners in San Jose offer visitors a chance to discover the stories behind the ingredients that define this season. In a month rooted in memory, family and tradition, tasting Costa Rica becomes one of the most meaningful ways to experience it.

About Foodie Tours Costa Rica

This article was researched and written by Foodie Tours Costa Rica, a culinary project based in San José dedicated to exploring Costa Rican culture through food. We design curated food tastings, city walks and private dining experiences that highlight local ingredients, tradition and contemporary creativity.