Pachanga de Enero Festival
Traditional food, concerts, folkloric dancing, carreras de cinta, horse parade, Friday through Sunday, San Isidro, Miramar, Puntarenas. 

Panama-Costa Rica tax seminar for U.S. expats
4 p.m., Los Sueños Marriott, Playa Herradura, Puntarenas, reserve at 2643-3058, lawyer@crtitle.com.

Son de Tiquizia in concert
Salsa, 10 p.m., Jazz Café, Escazú, 2288-4740, www.jazzcafecostarica.com.

Malpaís in concert
Trova, 10 p.m., Jazz Café, San Pedro, 2253-8933, www.jazzcafecostarica.com.

Palmares festival
Friday: Tico-style bullfight, 7 p.m.; Miranda! in concert, 9 p.m.
Palmares, Alajuela. See Saturday and Sunday's lineup below.

Green Festival
Live music by Amounsulu, Sonambulo, Sambastik and Sege, circus show, food, acrobatics, yoga workshops, proceeds go to construction of an indigenous high school in Salitre, 10 a.m.-8 p.m., Finca Biamonto, Coronado, 400 meters east, 300 m south of cemetery. 

Summer holistic workshops
Massage, Saturday, kundalini yoga, Sunday, Tamarindo, Guanacaste; qigong, Jan. 31, Feb. 1, Playas del Coco, Guanacaste, 8398-6332, lilacab@hotmail.com.  

Harmony Roads in concert
8 p.m., Bello Horizonte Country Club, Escazú.

Sonámbulo in concert
Rock, Jan. 24, 2 p.m., amphi-Theater of the Gold Museum, east Plaza de la Cultura.

Opera: ‘Orfeo ed Euridice'
By Christoph Willibald Gluck, live transmission from New York City's Metropolitan Opera House, noon, Eugene O'Neill Theater. Info: 2207-7554.

Palmares festival
Saturday: mountain bike race, 9 a.m.; bullfight for earthquake victims, 3 p.m.; Sharam of Deep Dish in concert, 9 p.m.

Magaly Gutiérrez and Allan Aguilar in concert
Pop, ballads, 9:30 p.m., El Observatorio, Barrio La California, opposite Cine Magaly, 2223-0725.

Joe Anello's Quartet in concert
Jazz, noon, Vista del Valle Inn, Rosario de Naranjo, Alajuela, 2450-0800, 2450-0900. 

An Afternoon with Manuel Obregón
Popular Malpaís pianist and composer, founder of Papaya Music, performs with Editus percussionist Carlos Vargas “Tapado,” 4 p.m., at AmaTierra Retreat, Turrubares. Info: 2419-0110.

Palmares festival
Pee Wee in concert, noon; riding championship, 3 p.m.; bullfight, 7 p.m.

Legislators trying to pass a much-touted organized crime bill suffered a setback this week after the Legislative Assembly's legal review board found several problems with the text.

Libertarian legislator and committee chair Luis Barrantes pointed his frustrations in the delay at the review board. “We submitted this Oct. 18, 2008, and it is January now. It's almost four months late,” he said Wednesday.

The board's review of the bill's second executive version came out Thursday and was a long way from a stamp of approval.

“I wouldn't say it's completely disorganized,” said Yamil Chacón, the board lawyer who reviewed the bill. “But there are some (articles) that are very irregular.”

Much of the text, he said, is inconsistent, with certain paragraphs contradicting others, making the bill legally invalid.

One of the biggest problems is the bill's treatment of wiretaps for businesses. The bill currently proposes to revoke business licenses of those companies that decline to allow wiretaps on their offices, which brings up “constitutional problems” regarding the rights of firms and business owners, said Chacón.

Nor does the bill clearly define the creation and structure of a new police information sharing program and a Commission on Critical Events.

“It needs a lot of work,” said Chacón, but the necessary reviews and edits could be done “within a month.”

In related news, the Public Security Ministry named Oldemar Madrigal as one of the ministry's three vice ministers, replacing outgoing José Torres. Madrigal, 59, a pilot, has worked in the ministry since 1967, serving as director of the ministry's National Air Patrol from 1994 to 1998 and again from 2005 to the present, and briefly also as director of the National Police from 2006 to 2007. He is the sixth vice minister to serve under Minister Janina del Vecchio since she took office last April.

The Costa Rican national men's soccer team, La Sele, will kick off against Panama Friday, and will play Guatemala on Sunday, in their two first-round games of the Central American Soccer Union (UNCAF) tournament.

Honduras, ranked 40th internationally by FIFA, are the favorites to win, especially after their 2-0 victory over 30th-ranked Chile. La Sele, though, have a good shot at the title as reigning and six-time tournament champions. They also shot up six spots in the most recent FIFA rankings to No. 47, up from 79, a 10-year nadir, last July.

UNCAF, hosted by Honduras in the capital Tegucigalpa, will be an important preview for the World Cup hexagonal qualifier, in which Costa Rica, El Salvador and the hosts will battle Mexico, the U.S. and Trinidad & Tobago for three berths to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

The tournament opened Thursday, and the final will be played on Feb. 1.

Costa Rica will then host Honduras at Ricardo Saprissa Stadium in Tibás, north of San José, on Feb. 11 in their much-anticipated hexagonal round opener. The teams are evenly matched historically: Costa Rica has beaten Honduras in 16 games, lost to them in 14 and tied them 13 times.

Also, the U.S. host Mexico in Columbus, Ohio, and El Salvador host Trinidad & Tobago the same day.

Nicaragua's Environment and Natural Resources Ministry (MARENA) will celebrate World Environmental Education Day on Monday with a rock concert in honor of Nicaragua's ecological riches.           

The “ecological concert,” which is co-sponsored by telecom company Movistar, will begin at 4 p.m. in the Parque Japones in Managua behind the Hotel Princess. Admission is free.

Headliners include Nicaraguan singer and songwriters Phillip Montalbán, Salvador Cardenal, Clara Grun and Gaby Baca.

According to MARENA spokesman Noel Arvizú, the ministry will also hold an environmental fair at the Salvador Allende port on Lake Managua the week of Jan. 26.