Costa Rica’s capital brings back a beloved weekly festival.
Costa Rica’s Ministry of Culture and Youth (MCJ) will be bringing back Enamorarte de tu ciudad, a weekly festival-like gathering which previously took place each Saturday in San Jose’s Parques Morazan and España. The tradition literally translates as “Fall In Love With your City.” It originated in 2010 and included activities such as free yoga, zumba, stilts and artistry.
Fall in Love with YOUR City
[quote_box_right]Catch a glimpse at San Jose’s vibrant parks and recreation scene in A Place for Space: A Look at the Parks and Plazas of San Jose.[/quote_box_right]
The revived version will now extend to five communities both in and out of the Central Valley area, but follows the same principles.
According to a press release recently published by the Solis administration, Enamorarte “seeks to develop communities, especially those included in the National Development Plan.” Thus, each event will include arts and activities specific to each location so as to “promote a sense of identity, rescue civic values, consolidate the Costa Rican family and recover urban spaces…”
Enamorarte will run Saturdays and Sundays from April to June this year, with a minimum of at least 15 activities each weekend. Activities listed by MCJ as possibilities for Enamorarte gatherings include: live music, literature, urban sports, workshops and more. Specific locations or times have not yet been released.
Investing in Culture
All in all, the resurrection of Enamorarte will require an investment of 150 million colones from the MCJ — about 20% of the Ministry’s total artistic and cultural budget for 2016.
Ada Acuña, General Director of MCJ’s Center for Artistic and Cultural Production, claims the organization is “headed for a path of improvement in terms of managing their resources, [and] establishing a clear work methodology for MCJ’s internal affairs.”
In other words, those disappointed by last year’s fumbled International Festival of Arts should remain hopeful for what 2016 has in store for Costa Rican arts and culture.