Fitting in a few more days of bull riding and fiesta fun at the end of the Costa Rican summer, before rainy season begins, both Nosara and Samara are making plans to host fiestas in April.
Nosara has decided to scale down to just two days of fiestas this time, which will be held on Saturday, April 12 and Sunday, April 13. Marcos Avila, president of the Nosara Integral Development Association, said they decided to plan activities for just two days because of many other fiestas going on, for example in Garza and Ostional, and because they are the most profitable days. He explained that fiestas require a lot of investment and some towns have actually lost money by holding them. “It’s not every town that can do fiestas,” he remarked.
On Saturday, the 12th, the fiestas will include the normal bull riding activities. In addition a free open-air dance will be held with two bars set up, one on each side of the dance floor. They hope this will encourage more people to buy drinks and refreshments since the dance will be free, Avila explained.
On Sunday, the 13th, the bull riding will feature the best group of riders and the best bulls in Costa Rica from Zapote and the spectacle of the so-called “saltador de la muerte”, the jump of death, where a man will jump over a bull.
In Samara, the April fiestas for the past few years were organized to support the EBAIS clinic, but after losses last year, the doctor decided not to host the fiestas this year. Instead, the Cangrejal ASADA water board is organizing the fiestas for April 11 to 14 and April 19 and 20.
Miguel Gomez, president of the ASADA, said the highlight will be the presence of the famous bull Leche Agria on Sunday, the 13th. Bull riding events will begin around 7 p.m. and dances will also be held nightly. Another special attraction will be “toretadas” both Saturdays and Sundays beginning at 2 p.m. These are events in which those who want to know what it’s like to ride a bull can test their abilities on full-grown bulls that aren’t professional bulls. This is a bit more challenging than the “terneradas”, or calf riding events, that have been held during the yearend Samara fiestas.
The ASADA hopes to replenish their funds after a major expenditure of 4.5 million colones ($9000) for a technical study of the entire network of the aqueduct and the creation of a topographical map that shows the location and diameter of each tube to make determinations regarding water pressure and capacity. This study was done in preparation for installing a sanitary sewage system in Cangrejal.
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