City of Grecia celebrates 187 years of existence
187 years ago in the province of Alajuela, Costa Rica, on April 27, 1838 a town was born. The locals celebrated the recognition of their settlement officially as a village.
They had to wait 10 years for the central government of the country to take the time to recognize them as such.
No wonder, these were difficult times of internal wars in a nation that was in its infancy.
Check our article about the history of the Canton of Grecia here.
Today the Griegos do not lose their identity or their pride and celebrated this date with many musical activities.
We took the time to go from Serenity and pay a visit to take a look at two activities held in the Park of Grecia.
Events at the amphitheater
The Park of Grecia has an amphitheater suitable for musical presentations. During Saturday it served as a place for different activities, among them:
A) A folkloric ballet by the Mexican group Madero.
B) Art workshops by local artists Jose Hidalgo and Amalia Villegas.
C) Piano concert with Keith Ramirez.
D) Cimarrona and masquerade.
E) Evening dance concert with several local singers such as Jose Stanley, Henry Salas and Bernal Gonzales.
On Sunday it was the turn of some municipal bands from 10:00 A.M., the municipal band of Grecia and the municipal band of Grecia.
But the closing of the activities in the amphitheater was in charge of the Orquesta Cultural Griega at 3:00 PM.
The Orquesta Cultural de Grecia
As the name shows, this orchestra is based in the city of Grecia and its specialty is a mixture of its own songs and popular repertoire.
With an ensemble of musicians with instruments such as flute, clarinet, violin, trombone, drums, keyboard and congas, they entertained the audience with their own repertoire and popular songs.
Four singers were in charge of the lyrics of the songs and to liven up the activity.
The concert was a combination of musical genres such as salsa, cumbia, boleros, folkloric and classical music.
Although the whole afternoon was cloudy, the rain did not come and the orchestra was able to play without setbacks.
Concert with Marfil
Since its founding in the 70’s of the 20th century, the musical group Marfil has been a favorite of Costa Ricans. Born in the Caribbean province of Limón, this group has been partly responsible for the expansion of the reggae, soul and soca genres in Costa Rica.
Marfil has seen part of its cast change during these 5 decades, always maintaining its identity.
Their musical repertoire includes original songs and popular songs, including some songs from other national groups.
The concert started at 7:00 P.M. but people started to gather near the stage from 5:00 P.M.
The concert was a delight for the audience, with reggae, soca, rock & roll and pop songs, among others. All this combined with a play of lights and smoke. The stage was placed on the east side of the park.
The concert ended around 9:20 P.M. and although the group played three songs more than planned, people were left wanting more.
Conclusion
Congratulations to the Griegos
Grecia is a beautiful city. It was rated the cleanest city in Latin America in 1989 by the International Union of Local Authorities, IULA.
After going through a solid waste collection crisis in the late 90s and early 21st century, the city looks great, renovated, clean and modern.
Let’s hope that the locals will continue to be proud of their city and their canton and will continue to take care of it as they have done so far.
Disclaimer: No Artificial Intelligence was used in this article. We want to remain real and legit to our readers.
