Christmas in Costa Rica: history, traditions and figures

Christmas is one of the most widely lived dates in Costa Rica: 25 December is a public holiday, the aguinaldo bonus is paid in December and in 2025 it was the month with the most tourist arrivals. Here is its history, how it is celebrated and what the official figures say.

Christmas in Costa Rica, step by step

Year-end festivities appear in official newspapers from the 19th century. An article by a University of Costa Rica lecturer and researcher, published by La Nación in 2012, brings those records together.

1. 1
   1885, bulls and fireworks in Alajuela. The Gaceta Oficial of 28 December reports the Christmas-weekend festivities in Alajuela: bullfights in the main square and fireworks. So many visitors came that two hotels had to be opened.
2. 2
   Late 19th century, the tree. Christmas trees were already sold in San José's main shops.
3. 3
   1916, Avenida Central. On 21 December, Carmen Lyra writes in Actualidades about San José's Avenida Central and its shops.
4. 4
   1959, the aguinaldo. The Legislative Assembly passes Law 2412, which requires private employers to give their workers a yearly benefit equal to one month's salary. President Mario Echandi vetoes it; the Assembly passes it again by more than two thirds and it is enacted on 23 October 1959.
5. 5
   1996, the Festival de la Luz. The Municipality of San José creates the Christmas parade that runs through the centre of the capital.
6. 6
   2026, a different festival. The Festival de la Luz is scheduled for Saturday 12 December, without floats, after six public institutions withdrew.

Timeline

Christmas in figures

December 2025 was the year's busiest month for international arrivals, with 347,143 tourists, and the highest December in the ICT's 2019-2025 series. September was the lowest, with 121,815. In all of 2025, 2,943,991 tourists arrived.

These are 2014 figures, from a survey by students of UCR's School of Statistics: they show how the season was lived that year, not necessarily today.

The aguinaldo: how it works

• Every worker with at least one month of continuous work for the same employer receives it, including those on fixed-term, specific-job or daily and hourly contracts.
• It is calculated by adding up the ordinary and overtime wages from 1 December of the previous year to 30 November, and dividing the total by 12.
• It is paid within the first 20 days of December.
• Only child support may be deducted from it; social security contributions are not.
• If the contract ends before December, the proportional part is paid; the right to claim it lapses one year after the employment ends.

The rules come from Law 2412 and its regulation, Executive Decree 20236-TSS, according to the Ministry of Labour's frequently asked questions.

Curious facts

• The aguinaldo survived a presidential veto: Mario Echandi returned the law unsigned and the Legislative Assembly passed it again by more than two thirds of the votes.
• The first law did not grant a full month: in 1959 the aguinaldo was capped at 25 % of the salary and in 1960 at 50 %; the rises to 75 % and 100 % were left to later decrees.
• In 1885 so many visitors came to Alajuela's Christmas festivities that two hotels had to be opened.
• December 2025 received almost three times as many tourists as September: 347,143 against 121,815.
• The 2024 Festival de la Luz, the 27th, set off from the Gimnasio Nacional, went along Paseo Colón and Avenida Segunda and ended at the Plaza de la Democracia.

Frequently asked questions

Is 25 December a public holiday in Costa Rica?

Yes. It is a paid public holiday under article 148 of the Labour Code; in 2026 it falls on a Friday. According to the Ministry of Labour, nobody is required to work it and, if it is worked, the law provides for double pay.

Is 24 December a public holiday?

No. 24 December is not among the public holidays of article 148 of the Labour Code nor in the Ministry of Labour's official calendar.

When is the aguinaldo paid?

Within the first 20 days of December, under article 4 of Law 2412 and according to the Ministry of Labour. If it is not paid, is late or is incomplete, the Ministry treats it as an undue withholding of wages and it can be reported to the Labour Inspectorate.

Sources

• La Nación: “Turbas de gente alegre”, a history of year-end festivities in Costa Rica (23 December 2012).
• Law 2412, the additional salary or Private Sector Aguinaldo Law (24 July 1959; enacted 23 October 1959).
• Ministry of Labour and Social Security: frequently asked questions about the aguinaldo.
• Ministry of Labour and Social Security: 2026 holiday calendar (4 December 2025).
• Costa Rican Tourism Institute: international tourist arrivals 2025, tables 1 and 11.
• University of Costa Rica: news item on the 2014 Actualidades survey and Christmas traditions (17 December 2014).
• La Nación: the 2024 Festival de la Luz (14 December 2024) and the 2026 Festival de la Luz (27 September 2026).