On December 26th, Costa Rica celebrates the National Day of Horsemen, and this day will be held the National Horse Parade, the biggest of the country. Thousands of riders from the seven provinces come to the capital city to show off their beautiful horses, and their best abilities to ride them. This is one of the most popular things to see in Costa Rica during the last week of the year.

The “Tope”, as it is known, is one of the most longed activities in Costa Rica during the San Jose festivities. There is a lot of “Topes” across the country, but the popular Tope of San Jose is the biggest and the best. Traditionally the Tope starts in Paseo Colon and, a few hours later, it ends in the Plaza Gonzalez Viquez. The famous horse parade is one more good reason to enjoy travel vacations or family trips to Costa Rica on December.

Thousands of riders come from across the country, to show off their beautiful horses, and abilities to ride during the most important event for Costa Rican horsemen. The competition to reach the first place is very kind between the participants. Horses are well trained during the year to do the best performance in for this special event, which attracts hundreds of tourist who take advantage of their holiday vacations packages.

The San Jose Municipality recently introduced other elements attached to the Tope, such as horse-drawn carriages and hand-painted oxcarts. The horse parade is a special activity for family tours and group of friends. This San Jose parade starts at the Paseo Colon and continues along the Second Avenue.

The Topes are an important part of the national folklore. For equestrian lovers, the National Tope is the best recreational event of the year. In fact, many people drive until six, or seven hours, to attend the activity. So, some hotels in San Jose receive a good number of guests who spend the night in the Capital City before and after the event.

There is a lot of Topes around the country, but the biggest are the Tope of San Jose, and the Topes of Palmares, Alajuela, and La Fortuna of San Carlos.