Published on Friday, September 12, 2025
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

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.

The tradition dates back to 1953, when Víctor Manuel Ureña Arguedas (1912–1995), then principal of San José School, organized the first lantern parade and encouraged teachers nationwide to take part annually.

On Sunday, San José will host the official Lantern Parade Ceremony at Central Park, led by Mayor Luis Diego Miranda Méndez and other officials. The event will feature folk dances and a marching band show, scheduled to begin at 6 p.m.

The main celebration takes place on Monday with the Independence Day Student Parade, organized by the Ministry of Public Education. Students and school bands, dressed in traditional attire, will perform folk music and dances along the central streets of their towns.

In San José, the day begins at 9 a.m. with a floral offering at the National Monument. President Chaves, joined by top officials, will then deliver the traditional Independence Day speech at the Plaza de la Democracia.

Meanwhile, more than 20 public schools and marching bands will parade along Second Avenue in the capital’s annual student parade. Festivities will conclude with a fireworks show organized by the Municipality of San José.

The Ministry of Public Works and Transportation (MOPT) has announced road closures and traffic diversions throughout downtown San José during the celebrations. Traffic police will be stationed along parade routes. While municipal officers in each community will manage local closures to ensure public safety.

All Independence Day activities will be broadcast live on state-owned Channel 13.

Costa Rica’s Independence Day commemorates the signing of the Act of Independence of Central America on September 15, 1821, when the Captaincy General of Guatemala, then made up of Guatemala, Chiapas, Comayagua, San Salvador, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, declared independence from Spain.

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What Independence Day events are happening in your community? We would like to know your thoughts on this story. Send your comments to news@amcostarica.com