El Residente
20 Out Titleand article About by Mitzi Stark
Ferias, Fiestas, y Festivales – Part 5
W
ith the COVID-19 health crisis, the calendar of events has been one big blah for the last two months as events were canceled or postponed. I missed Pet Fest in nearby La Garita, the cat show in Cartago, a book presentation complete with mini-concert and refreshments at the museum in Alajuela, and I could weep over missing the Pizza Fair at the national stadium. Every week I checked the events on Facebook: siempreeventos.com and: gamcultural.com, the GAM (general area metropolitan) cultural agenda, but there were no offerings. There were some virtual events; there was a workshop on gin and tonic, one on belly dancing, and another on making beer. But the fun in fair-going is: 1) Getting out of the house, 2) Seeing all the new products, 3) Seeing all the people and, 4) Connecting with others with like interests. “Attending� an event on-line is sort of like looking in the store window and not being able to go in and buy.
The point of this series is to show that Costa Rica offers a whale of opportunities and experiences without having to travel too far, pay too much, or get too tired. Fairs, or ferias, festivals, book presentations, and inaugurations are all open to the public. But, if we have missed a few due to restrictions on driving and congregating, all is not lost, some of the best fairs are still to come. The Chocolate Fair is a dream come true. Everywhere you look there is a different form of chocolate: bars, bits, dark, light, bitter, fruity, sauces, sundaes, ad
