Costa Rica Capital Abuzz with Activity this Weekend

Written by Claire

Son de Tikizia Closed the Weekend of Events in San Jose, Costa Rica.

If you were lucky enough to be wandering downtown San Jose this weekend, you were probably lured to the Parque Morazan, Espana and the Jardin de Paz by the 5th annual Transitarte Festival put on by the Municipality of San Jose as a part of the Summer Festivities.

The event took place from 10am to 10pm Friday through Sunday and included several stages where national and international groups performed everything from Celtic rock to African tribal music. The concert series started Friday with a concert by Tango India, and ended last night with a performance by the salsa group Son de Tikizia, which got the whole town dancing in the street.

Non-stop entertainment could be found throughout the day on the stages, a projection screen broadcasting concerts and music videos, and in the street with performances by street acrobats and stunt bikers. Other performances included modern dance, circus acts and magicians, fashion shows, poetry readings and an exhibition of the best outfits from the Festival de Luz. A sporting area hosted female and male boxing, along with other activities.

The entire Parque de España was transformed into a street market with tents housing arts and crafts made by 165 local artisans. Jewelry, clothing, paintings and woodwork were among the most popular items on sale.

The Parque Jardin de Paz area was designated for children’s activities including games, face painting and performances. The Parque Morazan had the largest stage with music and dance performances accompanied by pyrotechnics as well as a free “urban canopy” zip line that whisked people over the street.

The goal of Transitarte is to unite the population in celebration of the arts and sporting activities and provide a free activity for all ages to enjoy utilizing the public space. Thousands of people were in attendance and the activities were designed to appeal to every one of them.

Directly in front of the Transitarte events, the 4th Bilingual Job Fair was being held in the old Liquor Factory where companies were grouped off by the type of service offered and set up displays for candidates to learn more and apply for a total of 3,000 jobs. A total of 5,500 candidates registered at the event to explore the opportunities offered by the 29 companies that were present.

The majority of the candidates were between the ages of 21 and 26 and had a higher level of English than in years past, according to representatives from Hewlett Packard and Intel. They were applying for jobs in the areas of client services, publicity, software, engineering, finance, accounting and human resources.

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