BLOOMS of Gold: Chinese cinema queen Gong Li stars in the film “Curse of the Golden Flower,” which arrives to theaters around Costa Rica today. For theaters and show times, see the Weekend section of today's print or electronic edition of The Tico Times.

A unique act by the group Cirko Vivo called “ Genesis, El Viaje del Fuego,” (“Genesis, The Journey of Fire”) will continue to dazzle audiences this weekend at Café Britt in Barva de Heredia, north of San José.

Spanish Fair
To celebrate Spanish culture, traditions with food, stands, through April 29, Multiplaza Escazú, west of San José.

ExpoFiesta 2007
With magicians, games, food, today through Sunday, Fábrica Entertaining Center, Grecia, northwest of San José. Info: 451-0580.

Celebration Children's Museum's 13 th Anniversary
With a safari theme, cake for all, shows, today through Sunday, Children's Museum, San José. Info: 258-4929.

Harmony Roads in Concert
Country, folk, blues, rock n' roll, 8 p.m., Bello Horizonte Country Club, Escazú, west of San José.

Dog Gran Prix
Today and tomorrow, Pet's Paradise, El Roble de Heredia, north of San José. Info: 381-8285.

Activities for Children
Including games and storytelling, 3 p.m., Multiplaza Escazú, west of San José.

By Blake Schmidt and By Dave Sherwood
Tico Times Staff | bschmidt@ticotimes.net, dsherwood@ticotimes.net

One week after a massive blackout swept the country, Presidency Minister Rodrigo Arias declared yesterday that the nation's energy crisis has reached a state of emergency.

ICE president Pedro Quirós announced that blackouts will begin today and continue until there is enough rain to feed Costa Rica's hydroelectric plants, which are currently low on reserves due to a drier-than-normal year and a growing demand for energy.

To view a schedule released by ICE late yesterday afternoon of blackouts scheduled for today, click here. ICE representatives said the institute would also begin posting daily schedules of blackouts on its Web site, www.grupoice.com.

Some parts of the country will also experience interruptions in water service, according to Ricardo Sancho, Executive Director of the National Water and Sewer Institute (AyA). About 40% of the San José metropolitan area's water pumping systems depend on electricity provided by ICE, and will therefore be affected by the blackouts, he said.

These systems, which provide potable water to 100,000-150,000 of the city's 1.2 million inhabitants, will be shut off for periods of about six hours, coinciding with the ICE-programmed blackouts.

Sancho shied away from offering specific times and dates, explaining that the situation is still unclear due to conflicting information from ICE. AyA is very dependent on the electricity institute holding to its schedule for the blackouts, he said.

Click here for more on this story, and stay tuned to The Tico Times Daily News page for updates.

By Amanda Roberson
Tico Times Staff | aroberson@ticotimes.net

Police have discovered that some of the 56 Chinese migrants who were discovered lost at sea off the Pacific beach of Playa Guiones Saturday paid as much as $35,000 to be transported from their country without knowing their final destination, explained Vice-Minister of Public Security Ana Durán at a press conference yesterday.

While investigating these shipwrecked migrants, who were recently brought to a shelter in San José, police discovered that six of them were carrying round-trip airline tickets from China to Bogota, Colombia, with layovers in Hong Kong and Paris, Durán said.

From Bogota, they were taken by truck to Guayaquil, Ecuador, and from there, they headed north in a boat that broke down in Costa Rican waters.

Police suspect the three Ecuadorians and two Peruvians aboard the shipwrecked boat were “coyotes” transporting the Chinese to the United States or Canada, common destinations for migrants from poor countries, Durán said. The Prosecutor's Office is investigating these five people.

The Chinese aboard “weren't clear where they were doing,” she said, explaining that the migrants' passports had been taken away from them and they had been sedated in Ecuador before getting on the boat.

Authorities are in the process of trying to fly the 16 who have tickets back to Colombia. Police are contacting airlines to find out if the other 40 also have tickets; if they don't, Costa Rica will go through “standard immigration procedures” to deport them.

In the meantime, the 50 adults in the group are being held at a police shelter, and the six minors are being sheltered by the Child Welfare Office (PANI).

It costs Costa Rica about ¢1.2 million ($2,300) per day to provide food and shelter to these migrants, and the legal processes to deport them cost as much as $5,000 per person, Durán said.

These are “huge costs for the country,” she said. “We are a country that protects human rights, but these situations are arising that are draining the resources we have,” she said.

A unique act by the group Cirko Vivo called “ Genesis, El Viaje del Fuego,” (“Genesis, The Journey of Fire”) will continue to dazzle audiences this weekend at Café Britt in Barva de Heredia, north of San José.

During a recent show, dozens of performing artists elicited applause and cheers from the audience, seated in cramped rows of folding chairs facing an outdoor stage on the edge of Café Britt's coffee fields.

The human circus performance starts out quietly with slow movements of mimes and aerial dancers and gradually transitions into high gear with drumbeats, song, lights and fire, the show's main ingredient. Clown acts provide a touch of humor and serve as an introduction to the juggling acts. Near the end, the group of talented jugglers tosses dozens of fire sticks through the air in a flaming grand finale.

It is a show for all ages, whose visuals can be enjoyed regardless of whether the subtle storyline is understood. It can get chilly, though, so best to bring a jacket.

Performances are scheduled for tomorrow and Sunday at 7 p.m. For more information or to make a reservation, call 227-1600 or visit www.brittespressivo.com