2023 Independence Day Parade, Atenas

This past Friday was the 15th of September, Independence Day for Costa Rica, when in 1821 it shed the colonial rule of Spain. In this small but very significant little developing country, patriotism is big and almost everyone wears red, white & blue and many decorate their houses with banners and flags. I wore my national futbol (soccer) shirt, red, white & blue! 🙂

And almost every town of any size has a parade, usually featuring their local schools, and Atenas is no exception! 🙂 I have for several years now been photographing it most years (when not traveling) with galleries for those years included in my super-gallery: PEOPLE, FIESTAS & ARTS Costa Rica. Which of course now includes a gallery for this year’s 2023 Desfile del Día de la Independencia, Atenas. And here is a sample photo from each of the 7 sub-galleries in this year’s parade gallery . . .

Flags

Children in Historical Dress

All Primary School children wear the historic clothing of their ancestors. Click image to see more children.

Dancers

Traditional Spanish Dancing is a part of the culture. **Click image to see more.**

Drummers

Drumming is a big thing in Costa Rica, especially for boys. **Click image for more photos.**

Xylophones

The other major instrument in the school bands is the Xylophone. **Click image to see more photos**.

Miscellaneous

Audience

¡Pura Vida!

4 Replies to “2023 Independence Day Parade, Atenas”

Thanks for the wonderful coverage of the parade! It is so much fun to see the local celebrations and the local people,

Charlie says:

September 17, 2023 at 5:23 PM

Thanks Ellen! Although nature is my main focus, I started the blog as a report on living as a retiree in Costa Rica and of course local celebrations are a big part of that! And they are fun and colorful too! 🙂

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