I love Playa Hermosa for the different cultures of its people; the mix of luxury properties with the humble houses of the local Ticos, in a relatively new community. There are still hundreds of monkeys and a multitude of wild animals that live with the people of this beach community. While most residents are foreigners, Playa Hermosa has a very close group of Costa Ricans who are celebrating the traditions of this country with all kinds of social activities.
One of these is the reign, which is held every year in the center of Playa Hermosa. It is promoted with the help of the Catholic Church, an organized event with a group of natives preparing the nomination of the King or the Queen in the facilities borrowed from a family deeply involved with the community. This event lasts roughly one month where each participant pays ¢ 20,000 to enroll and must seek donations from people who support their nomination. The child who receives the most donations is elected King or Queen. This year the children were very young between 4 and 8 years old, however with the help of their parents they managed to collect substantial sums of money considering that the community of Playa Hermosa is quite small.
The day of the reign was celebrated under a Rancho, there was music, typical food, and organizers bought gifts for all the kids involved with the money they paid at the beginning. During the event, the committee counts the money of each child. Once they had counted the donations, children paraded before the public, and everyone sat on a stage where it was time to name the winner!
This year it was a boy of 7 who won, but all children were warmly applauded for participating in such a worthy cause where all the money collected was given to the Catholic Church which always needs the help of people to continue.