San José Art Expo 2026 Opens Aug. 27: Dates, Venues and What to Expect

SAN JOSÉ, COSTA RICA — San José Art Expo begins Thursday with four days of contemporary-art displays and cultural programming spread across three Hilton hotels.

San José Art Expo 2026 will run from August 27 through August 30, giving residents and visitors a new option for the final weekend of the month as galleries, collectors and art audiences gather across several venues in Costa Rica's capital.

The official event website lists three Hilton properties — described as Garden, Sabana and Curio — as simultaneous venues and says the program will combine gallery exhibitions with talks, music, literature, dance and interviews.

For anyone searching for things to do in San José this weekend, the most useful distinction is timing: Thursday evening is an invitation-only opening, while the longer daytime sessions begin Friday.

San José Art Expo 2026 dates and opening hours

The published schedule begins Thursday, August 27, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., with an inaugural session designated for invited guests.

The expo continues Friday and Saturday from noon until 7 p.m., before closing Sunday, August 30, with a final session from noon to 6 p.m.

That gives general weekend visitors three substantial daytime windows to explore the event after the Thursday opening.

The organizer has not published a ticket price or clear general-admission procedure on the website reviewed by CRN Times. Anyone planning a visit should therefore confirm access requirements with the event before setting out, rather than assuming entry is free or unrestricted.

The expo spreads across three Hilton properties

Instead of concentrating everything in one conventional exhibition hall, the organizer says the 2026 event will operate simultaneously in three Hilton hotels.

Its shorthand references to “Garden, Sabana and Curio” correspond with Hilton's current properties Hilton Garden Inn San Jose La Sabana, Hilton San Jose La Sabana and Gran Hotel Costa Rica, Curio Collection by Hilton.

The locations create two different geographic clusters for visitors. Hilton Garden Inn San Jose La Sabana and Hilton San Jose La Sabana are in the La Sabana area, while the Gran Hotel Costa Rica sits in central San José near Plaza de la Cultura and the National Theatre.

That setup makes planning more important than at a single-site fair. Visitors hoping to see exhibitions in all three hotels should allow for movement between the La Sabana properties and downtown San José.

What visitors can expect

The event is being presented primarily as a professional contemporary-art platform connecting galleries, collectors, businesses and cultural tourism.

The organizer advertises 25 gallery spaces and describes the 2026 format as dedicated specifically to galleries, with participating artists selected in part for their professional trajectories. It also promises programming beyond visual displays, including talks, literary activities, music, dance and interviews.

A detailed list of every participating gallery, artist and timed cultural session was not available in the material reviewed by CRN Times. Those elements should therefore be treated as programming still requiring confirmation rather than advertised as a finalized lineup.

For casual visitors, that means the clearest expectation is a hybrid between an art fair and a cultural program rather than a conventional museum exhibition: works presented through gallery spaces, opportunities to encounter collectors and cultural-sector participants, and additional performances or discussions around the displays.

Is this really the first San José Art Expo?

There is a distinction worth making.

The 2026 website describes the event as a “primera edición” and emphasizes what it calls a first exclusive space for galleries. However, San José Art Expo is not a completely new event name.

Costa Rica's Ministry of Culture and Youth issued Executive Agreement No. 026-C in February 2024 declaring San José Art Expo 2024 an event of cultural interest. The government record says that edition was scheduled for March 16 and 17 in San José and included painting, sculpture, modern art, music, dance and theater.

The safest interpretation is therefore that organizers are positioning 2026 as the first edition of the current gallery-centered format, rather than the first San José Art Expo ever staged.

What to know before going

Visitors planning around the weekend schedule should check three things immediately before departure: which Hilton property contains the exhibitions they most want to see, whether access or registration is required, and whether the organizer has published a more detailed program for talks or performances.

The venues themselves span distinct parts of the capital. Hilton San Jose La Sabana is on Avenida de las Américas beside the National Stadium area, while Hilton Garden Inn San Jose La Sabana is on Boulevard de Rohrmoser. Gran Hotel Costa Rica, Curio Collection by Hilton is downtown on Second Avenue between streets 1 and 3.

For people building a San José weekend itinerary around art, museums and the city center, the downtown Curio property also sits immediately by Plaza de la Cultura, the National Theatre and the Gold Museum area.