Festival de la Luz (The Festival of Lights) is a big deal around here... three nights in early December, to kick off the holiday season and it's also the beginning of the dry season. It hasn't rained in three days here which is new to me... from what I've seen it rains two or three times a day. I've been getting good at sensing when it's coming with so much practice.
The first night of the festival was some big band jazz in front of the cathedral, by what was rumored to be the best big band in Costa Rica. I wonder how many there are... maybe that's like saying you're my favorite mother, as in, there's only one. The flap was with me that night, he had come into town for the market and missed his ride back.
The next night, Friday, was a tope... which is a traditional horse parade. I brought my camera with me, but the memory card was still in the card reader and not in the camera, so no pictures. Epic fail. Maybe just imagine some of the pics below with less people and a couple hundred horses? Oh, and lots of women in high heel boots and tiny denim skirts, with caballero hats.
The big deal is Saturday night. The big band... whatever. Horses? Take them or leave them. But everyone I talked to was really excited about Saturday, which is the parade. Last night, I went in a bar, had a couple few rum and cokes, and then went walking with my camera... fully charged and double checked for a memory card. Here is some of what I saw:
This is the first float of the parade... note the guys with the poles, who had to hold up power lines so the float could make it through. I think they must have screwed up though, because soon the whole town lost electricity.
The effigies didn't know where to go.
Yet the band played on.
Cheers! Electricity is back!
One of about six Santas in the parade.
Stilt walkers posing.
I stepped away for a bit, seduced by the scent of kabobs of meat grilling.
My favorite of the Santas.
Anywhere you can get a view from, grab it.
Is this legal?
Who cares? Shake that thing!
¡Que Linda! This little girl was next to me at one point, on her dad's shoulders. Too adorable not to take a picture.
Corsets and fishnets? Sweet.
Here I moved from the beginning area of the parade to just past where the main review area was.
Seeing the corset crew had nothing to do with my finding a new spot. No, really, it's true!
These guys were fantastic.
A little bit of carnival.
And then the cops come through on horseback, parade over.
Crap, I didn't know about the fireworks. Still, I probably would have chosen to watch from my apartment... not a bad view.
Just below the left side of the lower fireworks, you can see the left tower of the cathedral, just to give an idea of where I am. Takes just a few minutes to walk down there.
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