If your trip lands in mid-September, you'll catch one of the most genuine things travelers can see in Costa Rica: Independence Day and the small-town celebrations around it. This isn't a tourist production. It's the local calendar, and you're lucky to be there for it. Here's what to expect and how to take part respectfully.
September 15 and the lantern parade
Costa Rica celebrates its independence on September 15. The signature tradition happens the night before, on September 14: the desfile de faroles, a lantern parade. Children make paper lanterns (often little models of traditional houses) and walk through town carrying them, marking the route of the news of independence that traveled through Central America in 1821. It's simple, homemade, and quietly moving, hundreds of small lights moving through the dark.
On the morning of the 15th, towns hold civic parades: schoolkids in white-and-blue, drum corps (bandas), flags, and folkloric dancers in traditional Guanacaste dress. In a town the size of Sámara, the "parade" is the whole community, which is exactly what makes it better than the big-city version.
Guanacaste's own day: July 25
Worth knowing if you're here earlier in the summer: July 25 is Annexation of Guanacaste Day, marking the region joining Costa Rica in 1824. It's a point of real local pride, and the celebrations lean hard into Guanacaste's sabanero (cowboy) culture: folkloric music and dance, traditional food, marimba, and sometimes a tope (horse parade) or bullring events in the bigger towns. The Guanacaste flag flies everywhere. If your trip overlaps, ask locally what's on.
How to take part well
- Show up and be a respectful guest. These are community events, not performances staged for tourists. Watch, clap, enjoy, follow the crowd's lead.
- Ask before photographing kids up close. Wide shots of the parade are fine; portraits of other people's children need permission.
- Make a lantern with your own kids. Picking up paper and a candle (or a battery light) and joining in is the kind of travel memory that sticks. See our Sámara with kids guide.
- Bring cash for food stalls and learn a little Spanish first; it goes a long way at a local fiesta.
Why September is underrated anyway
September is the quietest, greenest, cheapest month in Sámara, so a festival on top of low-season rates and empty beaches is a real combination. The trade is the rain (it's the wettest stretch), so plan around the mornings; see our rainy-day guide and month-by-month weather.
Time your trip to a local holiday and you'll see the Sámara most visitors miss. Check availability at Villas Dualis and book direct. Ask us what's happening around your dates and we'll point you to it.