Q COSTA RICA – For the second year in a row, Puntarenas will not have its “Carnaval” (festival). Danilo Chavarria, president of the Puntarenas city municipal council confirmed the news on Tuesday.
For years, on the heels of the two biggies, Zapote (San Jose) in December and Palmares in January, the Puntarenas festival was the place to be.
February was synonymous with sun, sand, beer, music, beauty (bikini) queen and street dancing in Puntarenas.
However, in the last several years, the attraction began losing its appeal according to local merchants of the “Paseo de los Turistas” (tourist alley). Despite the lower appeal, local merchants saw the festival as a seasonal boom for sales.
So, why was this year cancelled?
According to Chavarria the problem was an error in the appointment of one of the members of the commission organizing the event. Chavarria explained that the regulation calls the person names should be from the canton, but a resident of Esparza had been named.
Although the error has since been corrected, it is still not official, leading to the cancellation for February. Chavarria added that the commission could organize a ‘mid-year’ event.
