Sidebar #69 - Costa Rica and the Arts

Without a doubt, Costa Rica has a burgeoning arts scene, and it wouldn’t surprise me at all if we see more and more artists emerge from Costa Rica in the near future. It’s clear that this is a priority of the government. During the past month or so alone, I attended 2 major art festivals in San José, both of which features free concerts and markets. Furthermore, students participate in the FEA competition (Festival Estudiantil de las Artes) and a couple of Costa Rica’s most famous landmarks are theatres. (Teatro Nacional and Teatro Melico Salazar) There are a growing number of museums as well, particularly in San José, dedicated to showing off Tico fine art. 

As it relates to music, I read an article recently that stated that Costa Rica possesses one of the world’s lowest percentages of domestically-produced musicians. There isn’t really a Costa Rican “Bad Bunny”. For whatever reason, Ticos primarily listen to artists from other neighboring countries and territories like Puerto Rico, Colombia, and Venezuela. One of Costa Rica’s more famous singers is “Toledo”, who sings in Spanglish, but even he doesn’t have as much name-recognition outside of Costa Rica. However, with as much attention as has been placed on art, it wouldn’t surprise me if we started hearing more Costa Rican artists on the airwaves in the future. Costa Rica’s national dance is the “Swing Criollo”, which is incredibly popular at local events, bars, and celebrations, and is quickly recognized by all Ticos.