The Rodeo is coming to town

Every year, February is a celebrated and exciting month here in Santa Teresa. It is a month that is much talked about throughout the year and it is awaited with much anticipation and excitement. It is a month in which Santa Teresa is a-buzz with much talk and festivities as the Costa Rican rodeo, the Fiestas Civicas de Cobano, comes to town. The Fiestas Civicas is a much-loved event in Cobano and it is a fantastic opportunity for tourists to experience an authentic Costa Rican fiesta.

The Fiestas Civicas de Cobano is a two-week long festival that celebrates the cattle raising culture, its lifestyle and traditions on which this area of Costa Rica was built. This
festival is a celebration of some of the areas best local food, its traditional cowboy music and of course, its long-standing and proud cowboy culture, their beautiful horses and their fierce bulls.

The first major event of the festival is the Tope. The Tope is much like the opening ceremony of the Olympic and it is a large social gathering for all of the main participants in the festival. Sabaneros, Tico cowboys, from all over the Nicoya Peninsula converge on the streets of Cobano to participate in the Tope. The Tope is a colourful parade of the Sabaneros and their horses through the streets of Cobano. The Tico sabaneros saddle up their most prized and cherishe horses and they all ride together from the community hall in Cobano to the fair grounds where the rest of the festival will be taking place.

Another exciting event that takes place during this festival is the National Costa Rican Rodeo championships. The title for the best bull rider in Costa Rica is much sought after and many of the best bull riders in the country also flock to Cobano to participate in this event with its wild bulls.

Throughout the two-week festival there are tons of fun activities for everyone. The fairgrounds are set up with rides for children and games for everyone. There is also much live music and dancing throughout the festival as well as fireworks. Perhaps the most favourite event of all is the event called ‘Rodeo for Everybody’ where anyone can choose to participate. This is a very special event for those brave among us that want to have our chance running with the bulls. The bulls are a little smaller than the normal rodeo bulls but they are still just as ferocious. So what are you waiting for? Don’t you want to try?

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PHOTO SOURCE: Finger Lakes Community College
Study Abroad in Costa Rica, www.leaflanguages.org
Modern Languages @ FLCC