Moonlight Dub in concert
Dub reggae, 10 p.m., Jazz Café, San Pedro, http://jazzcafecostarica.com.

Jazz jam session
Jazz Café Trio and friends, 10 p.m., Jazz Café, Escazú.

Roblealto Camp
Ages 6-11, today through Fri.; ages 12-17, July 14-18, Roblealto Camp, San José de la Montaña, Heredia, tel: 2266-0041, 2266-0048.

Children's Museum camp
Ages 3-4, July 7-11, 14-18, 7:30 a.m.-noon; ages 5-13, July 7-11, 14-18, 7:30 a.m.-5 p.m., Children's Museum, register at 2258-4929, ext. 124, 125.

Tica soprano Iride Martínez and almost 40 other artists from mostly Europe and North America are to fill Costa Rica with the sound of classical music as the 18th Credomatic Music Festival gets rolling next month, Aug. 2-17.

With the program almost set, festival director Jordi Antich gave reporters a sneak peak of the lineup Saturday at Reserva Conchal, a lavish resort hotel at Playa Conchal in the northwestern Guanacaste province, one of the hosts and sponsors of this year's festival. Complete dates and names should be available by the end of this week, he said.

Highlights will include Italian pianist Francesco Libetta, whom the New York Times once called “a poet-aristocrat of the keyboard with the profile and carriage of a Renaissance prince”; Colombian a cappella group Vocal Sin Tiempo; as well as soprano Martínez, who, having graced opera houses around the globe, is “the Costa Rican artist who has achieved the most success in classical music worldwide,” according to Antich.

Antich told The Tico Times he is also particularly excited about the arrival of Berlin Brass, a group packed with disciples of the German city's greatest brass musicians that Antich has been courting for at least three years.

Besides at its San José headquarters, the National Theater, the festival will offer concerts at venues across the country, including a Caribbean venue at Earth University. Most concerts outside the capital are scheduled for the first week, leading up to an official inaugural show at the National Theater on Aug. 9.

Free shows will also be scheduled inside churches, such as San Ramon, Las Mercedes, Don Bosco and the Metropolitan Cathedral.

The price of gas and diesel in Costa Rica will again hike from ¢60-¢88 ($.12-$0.17) as of July 15 due to the rising price of oil and the weakening colón, according to a government authority.

The Public Services Regulatory Authority (ARESEP) announced the increases in regular, super and diesel on Friday. Regular will jump by ¢60, from ¢644 to ¢704; super by the same, from ¢656 to ¢716; and diesel by ¢88, from ¢622 to ¢710.

ARESEP passed the price hike despite a bill currently before the Legislative Assembly that would transfer the diesel tax to regular and super and provide ¢10 billion (about $19.4 million) to the National Oil Refinery.

Should the bill pass, the tax for regular would move from ¢165.75 ($0.32) to ¢306 ($0.59), while that for super would increase from ¢173.25 ($0.34) to ¢325.50 ($0.63).

Fernando Herrero, ARESEP's general regulator, said the authority was obliged by current standards to approve the increase in the price of diesel.

However, “as soon as the Legislative Assembly approves the diesel subsidy and the Treasury Ministry sends the money to RECOPE, a process to reduce the price (of diesel) will begin,” Herrero said.

Atlantic Airlines has suspended operations while it conducts maintenance on its fleet, according to marketing manager Eliseth López.

López said Atlantic's daily flights from Managua to the Caribbean will be grounded until the end of the month.

A group of Atlantic workers recently told Nicaraguan press that the company was seeking to close down after the National Civil Aeronautic Institute demanded that the firm perform preventive maintenance on its fleet.

Atlantic denies the allegations and said the maintenance was the company's own initiative. During the fix-up period, set to last one month beginning from June 26, the workers aren't receiving pay.

Atlantic became one of two airlines with flights to the Caribbean from Managua after the government cancelled Aerosegovia's license to fly in 2003 for a slew of irregularities, including outdated equipment and failure to pay airport taxes. Atlantic, which also operates in Honduras, now competes with Grupo Taca partner La Costeña, both of which offer daily flights to a handful of destinations in eastern Nicaragua.