The country just about closes down during Easter week, and the week between Christmas and New Year's Day tends to be an unofficial holiday, especially in San José. Various towns celebrate their own saints' days and other significant dates. San José's day (Saint Joseph's Day) is March 19, while Virgin of Los Angeles Day (the patron saint of Costa Rica) is August 2. Juan Santamaria's Day on April 11 celebrates the national hero who helped see off William Walker in 1856, and Columbus Day on October 12, as elsewhere in the Americas, is a national holiday.
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