There's no shortage of things to do this weekend in the Central Valley, with arts festivals, national hero celebrations and outdoor food frenzies taking over the streets.

The latest ingredients to be thrown into the mix are 2,000 kilograms of beans and 1,800 kilograms of rice for the first-ever National Gallo Pinto Day Sunday in downtown San José's Paseo Colón.

The day is in homage to Costa Rica's favorite breakfast dish, gallo pinto, which consists of one- to two-day-old rice, black beans, diced peppers and onions, Lizano sauce and some other optional herbs and spices.

From 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. organizers are expecting some 30,000 people to attend.

It is an unstated attempt to beat Nicaragua, which rivals Costa Rica's claim to being the birthplace of the dish, and whose record “ gallopintorama ” in September served up the stuff to more than 20,000 people.

Ticos, emboldened by today's commemoration of their national hero and airport's namesake, Juan Santamaría, could be up for the task.

The feast also comes during a weekend of spectacles in the 11th International Arts Festival (FIA) program, which runs through April 20 in San José, Alajuela, northwest of the capital, and the central Pacific port city of Puntarenas. The festival is showcasing the best of Costa Rican performing and visual arts, as well as 70 international arts from 20 countries. For more information, see interview with Tom Zabel of the German street theater group Du & Nichts at http://www.ticotimes.net/culture.htm, and look in today's Tico Times print edition for a complete FIA calendar.

In Santa Ana, southwest of San José, the Luz de Luna Festival is still underway this weekend. Tonight's “Moonlight” program sees Latin jazz, tomorrow has theater and dance and Sunday, tango and a circus, starting at 6:30 each evening outside Santa Ana Church.