In Samara, many people unemployed by the Pandemic have found in the “Feria Samara” entrepreneurs’ fair promoted by the Municipality of Nicoya, a successful marketing space that has allowed them to reinvent themselves and bring their families daily sustenance.
“One of the main situations that Nicoya producers, artisans and entrepreneurs faced was that they did not have places to sell their products, and for this reason the Local Government undertook the task of forming synergies in the communities, with civil society, the private company and we were able to propose these spaces that have really been very well used to promote the local economy with that stamp of what was done in Nicoya”, commented the Mayor of Nicoya, Carlos Armando Martínez Arias, about the Nicoyanas Fairs project.
At “Feria Sámara” there are 42 permanent entrepreneurs who offer their products every Saturday, plus other occasional ones. The fair changed location a few weeks ago, which had a very positive impact on its sales results. “Since we have made the change from where we were, the Stadium, to move here to the park, people have increased their sales by almost 60%, so for them it has been very profitable and they are very happy,” said Beatriz Jirón, who is one of the coordinators of Feria Sámara.
Examples of succesful entrepreneurship
One of the vendors is Heiner Cabezas, who before the Pandemic worked in the security area of a hotel, but now is dedicated to selling fresh fish. “I dedicated myself to selling fish due to the situation that I no longer have my job, so I spoke with the people who organize the fair and they gave me a space for being able to sell and I cannot complain, I have done very well at the fair, Thank God”.
Miguel Noguera, a resident of Quebrada Bonita de Nicoya, also confirms the good results that has allowed to participate in the fair with the vegetables and fruits he produces with his family. “We already have about 5 months participating and we are doing very well. We produce organic products such as lettuce, cucumbers and pipián, oranges, mandarins and lemons. All the products are sold, they are already well known and we always return to continue selling all the products that we bring”.
Positive impact
According to Beatriz Jirón, the impact of the fair on entrepreneurs goes beyond Saturdays. “Many people have come out here whose only income is what is sold at the fair. They started like this, little by little, selling, they became famous and now after the fair, the other days of the week they can also sell their products because people already know them. There are people who lost their jobs, but here they found a creative solution to get ahead”.
Continue expanding
For her part, Laura Rivera Álvarez, Second Vice Mayor of Nicoya and who has followed up on the Nicoyan fairs project, commented that the idea is to continue expanding the horizons of the fair.
“The fair is growing day by day and it has been a success; obviously a very different fair, very contextualized both to Sámara and to the visitors, to the tourist, very projected towards this. The best thing is that we take advantage of a public space such as the park, which was there without being used, dirty and now this organizing group is going to maintain the space. We are going to grow, we want to expand it to cultural spaces, training spaces and also include children and young people to learn something, a craft, a trade in the Samaritan context”, declares Rivera.
The Sámara fair takes place in the municipal park on Saturdays from 7am to 1pm.
