Luis Palau Costa Rica Festival

More News

LUIS PALAU'S COSTA RICA FESTIVAL
DRAWS 400,000+ TO STREETS OF SAN JOSE

A crowd estimated at 205,000 filled the Parque de la Paz in San Jose, Costa Rica Saturday for the second night of evangelist Luis Palau’s Festival Costa Rica 2006

Sunday, March 12, 2006

SAN JOSE, COSTA RICA (ANS) -- The Luis Palau ministry teamed with major Latin American entertainers, over 18,000 volunteers and more than 800 churches to bring the Costa Rica Festival with Luis Palau to the national capital of San Jose this weekend for two days of “Great music and Good News”. Official crowd estimates put the attendance at over 401,000 people during a week of outreach events that was capped with historic crowds at the city’s famed Parque de la Paz.

Costa Rican President Abel Pacheco Rodriguez (left) welcomes evangelist Luis Palau on his first day of a week-long outreach in San Jose

The week-long outreach included face-to-face meetings with the country’s top leadership – including President Abel Pacheco Rodriguez and incoming President Oscar Arias Sanchez – where evangelist and author Luis Palau shared the Gospel message at gatherings that included women’s groups, clergy, and political and business leaders. During the weekend, his Children’s Festival attracted over 35,000 kids and families, and the evening productions drew 160,000 on Friday and 205,000 on Saturday.

San Jose, Costa Rica Mayor Johnny Araya Monje (left) presents evangelist Luis Palau with the city’s “Distinguished Visitor” award at City Hall ceremonies

San Jose’s mayor Johnny Araya Monje opened the city’s heart and resources to the Palau team, taking the massive Festival stage on Friday night to welcome Luis to his city. Earlier in the week, the mayor presented Luis with San Jose’s “Distinguished Visitor” award in special ceremonies.

Palau’s first major event in Costa Rica was in the early 1970’s, and many of the Costa Ricans who heard him then are now active in the church community and were instrumental in producing the Festival. The country has undergone dramatic upheaval in recent years, from political violence to social challenges such as legalized prostitution and widespread poverty. The spiritual climate has been desperate as well, with less than 15 percent of Costa Ricans proclaiming the Christian faith.

Evangelist Luis Palau welcomes the massive crowd (2-day estimate 400,000) at this weekend’s Costa Rica Festival

Some of Latin America’s brightest entertainers brought the “great music” component to the Festival, including Jose Luis “El Puma” Rodriguez, Mexican superstar Yuri and singer Jailene Cintrón. Palau took the stage each night with a message of “Good News” that was relevant and compelling. By week’s end, over 17,400 souls had made a documented decision to follow Christ.

Local and national media played a vital role in telling the story of the Festival across Costa Rica.

Major newspaper, television and radio coverage followed Palau throughout the week, and helped to extend Palau’s reach with his message of hope to every corner of the country. Tens of thousands of listeners from across the Spanish-speaking world logged on to the Palau website each night to hear a live broadcast of the Festival.

The next Luis Palau Festival is set in the U.S. in Orlando, Florida on April 1st and 2nd, followed by Houston, Texas in October.

Information on the Luis Palau Association is available at www.palau.org.

ASSIST News Service (ANS) - E-mail