The story
Mascaradas de Escazu in Escazu
Mascaradas de Escazu is the canton's branch of Costa Rica's national masked-parade tradition, built on a documented lineage of local carvers starting with Santiago Bustamante Guerrero and continued by Pedro Arias and later workshop successors. Oversized mantudo masks chase and dance through the streets to cimarrona bands during Escazu's festive dates, one of several distinct town-level stagings of the same recognized national custom.
Santiago Bustamante Guerrero carved the first mask ever made in Escazu, and Pedro Arias, later remembered as a master among the country's mask makers, built on that start until the canton became one of the places most associated with Costa Rica's mascarada tradition.