13/09/2025
Costa Rica independence
Costa Rica will mark its 204th Independence Day on Monday, September 15, with nationwide festivities over the weekend, bringing together citizens and foreign residents alike.
The holiday will feature student parades, concerts, fireworks, traditional dances, and folk music in communities across the country.
The celebration will officially begin on Saturday at 9 a.m. with the arrival of the Torch of Independence, a symbol of freedom that travels each year through Central America from Guatemala to Panama. Minister of Public Education Leonardo Sánchez will receive the torch at the General Directorate of Migration station in Peñas Blancas Canton, Guanacaste Province.
From there, students escorted by security officials will carry the flame across Costa Rica, passing it from hand to hand along a 230-mile route stretching from the Nicaraguan border to the Panamanian border.
The torch is expected to reach the Cartago Plaza Mayor Central Park on Sunday at 6 p.m., where President Rodrigo Chaves Robles will lead the Independence Day Eve Ceremony in Cartago, Costa Rica’s first capital between 1821 and 1823.
One of the most beloved traditions will be the Children’s Lantern Parade, which will take place in central parks across the country. Depending on the school calendar, the parades will be held on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday evenings starting at 5 p.m. Children will carry handcrafted lanterns while singing Costa Rican folk songs and the national anthem.
