The story
Festival de la Luz in San José
Inspired by a 1994 visit to a Panamanian Christmas festival, San Jose's Festival de la Luz held its first parade of illuminated floats and marching bands in 1996 along Paseo Colon and Avenida Segunda. Now held every second Saturday of December, it opens with illuminated buildings and fireworks before the parade proceeds from the National Gymnasium to the Plaza de la Democracia, incorporating traditional Costa Rican mascaradas alongside the floats.
San Jose's Festival de la Luz originated from a single trip in 1994, when the director of the city's existing Christmas parade travelled to Panama to serve as a judge at a Panamanian Christmas festival and came away struck by its artistry, magic and the scale of family and children's participation; he convinced then-mayor Johnny Araya to travel with him to see the Panamanian event directly, and the pair returned determined to bring a comparable spectacle to San Jose.