Subscribe to our Daily News RSS feed.

Read the Daily News on your mobile device.

Festival Flamingo 2010
Art exhibit featuring various artists, 11 a.m.-10 p.m.; live music by Nu-Lions Jazz Quartet, led by Ralph Tope, and Santa Esperanza, 5:30 p.m., March 12-14, La Plaza, Flamingo, Guanacaste. Info: 2288-2646.

Puriscal Fiestas
Souvenirs, food, concerts, rodeo, karaoke contests, carnival, March 12-21, Puriscal.

National Symphony Orchestra in Concert
March 12, 10 a.m., Gymnasium of Liceo de San Carlos, San Carlos, northern zone.

XIV Costa Rica Bowl
World Youth tennis competition, through March 13, Costa Rica Tennis Club, Sabana Sur.

Francophone Festival
March 12, film, “Safrana o el derecho a la palabra,” 6 p.m., Alliance Française, Barrio Amón; jazz concert by BoZilo, 8 p.m., National Auditorium, Children's Museum. March 13, French breakfast and talk, 9 a.m., Sala Ande (register at acoprof@yahoo.fr ), 10 a.m.; French workshop for kids 4-11, 10-11:30 a.m. (reserve at 2283 4242), Librería Francesa, Curridabat. March 14, film, “Trillizas de Belleville” (France and Belgium), 6.30 p.m., Central Bank Museums; “Le Rêve d'Herbert,” performed by French company Les Quidams, 7 p.m., Plaza de la Democarcia, San José, www.afsj.net.

Hike to Río Celeste
Organized by Picotours, includes lodging at Heliconia Lodge, March 13-14, Bijagua, San Carlos. Info: 2289-6135, picotours@racsa.co.cr.

2009-2010 National Surf Circuit
Tamarindo, Guanacaste, March 13-14; Santa Teresa, Nicoya Peninsula, April 10-11; Nosara, Guanacaste, May 22-23; Grand Final, Hermosa, Central Pacific, June 25-26. Info: www.surfingcr.net.

Long Distance Race San Juan del Murciélago
11.5 km., March 14, 8:30 a.m., Tibás. Info: www.gsxg.net

Walkin' the DAWG
5 km fun walk/run and 10 km race with your pet to raise money for DAWG, in conjunction with Playa Dominicalito Race, March 14, 7 a.m., Playa Dominicalito, Southern Zone, register with Shawnell Parker. Info: dawgfostermom@gmail.com.

4th Cartago Red Cross Race and Hike
9.8 km race, 4.2 km hike, March 14, 8 a.m., start and finish at Cartago Red Cross, register at www.hagodeporte.com.

Oxcart Parade
March 14, 10 a.m., leaving from north side of Escazú Central Park to San Antonio de Escazú church.

“National Mountain Bike Cup”
First date of five, March 13, Centro Turístico Los Trapiches, Grecia.

Saint Patrick's Day
Including magic show at 8 p.m., Dj playing Irish music, and cornbeef sanwiches (¢100 with the purcase of any drink), March 14, noon-2 p.m., Papis Sports Bar and Grill, one block west of Hotel Del Rey. Info: 2258-1844.

San José looks to be getting a little hectic this weekend, with outdoor concerts and cultural festivities galore. But one event planned at the downtown Jacob Karpio Gallery aims to have a calming effect on the city.

On Sunday, March 14, the art gallery, located near the Parque Nacional, will offer Indian spiritual music, yoga, meditation and a vegetarian buffet for its third annual Gaura Mantra Fest. The earnings from the event will be used to help Haiti recover from the Jan. 12 earthquake.

In addition to helping Haiti, the event is intended to help San José recover some of the serenity it has lost to violence and crime, according to gallery owner Jacob Karpio. “After 5 p.m., people say they're afraid to go into San José,” Karpio said during a press conference on Thursday. “With events like this we want to take back the city center.”

The program features Prem Prayojan and the Kirtaniyas, who will perform Kirtan, an ancient form of Hindu music and chant. Originally from the United Kingdom and now based in Santa Monica, in the U.S. state of California, Prem Prayojan is a renowned expert on Bhakti yoga and the ancient language of Sanskrit. He gives seminars around the world on these topics and others related to Eastern spirituality.

But Sunday, this spiritual leader wants the music to do most of the guiding. With some narration, he said, the performance will be a “meditation to develop a harmonic vision of reality.”

Performers will also include Santos y Zurdo, a local electronic ethno-fusion band, and Oscar López, an Argentine bandoneón player.

Karpio said in previous years the event has drawn as many as 400 people, and this year he expects more to come, adding that partygoers who attend the Transitarte Festival can come to the Gaura Mantra Fest to cool down.

Beginning at 7:30 p.m., the festival will be located at the Jacob Karpio Gallery, at Avenida 1 near Calle 11, opposite the southern side of the Supreme Elections Tribunal (tel. 2257-7963). Tickets cost ¢ 3,000.

Banco Nacional has announced that March will be “Special Construction Month”, with the public bank committing to offer lower interest rates and rebates and open up credit lines to boost housing construction throughout the country.

Under the motto “We Are Building Together”, Banco Nacional claims that, throughout March and the first weeks of April, the interest rates on housing financing will be slashed 50 percent, with the colón rate to be set at 10.75 percent and U.S. dollar rate at 8.36 percent.

According to a Banco Nacional statement, the bank “is supporting Costa Ricans in their dream to have their own home,” with mortgages featuring reduced interest rates and a 50 percent decrease in approval fees.

Banco Nacional said that over the next six weeks they will provide financing for the purchase of new or used homes or apartments, buying a lot and building, building on a pre-owned lot, transferring debt from another bank, refinancing debts into a single credit line, buying a second home or home expansion or remodeling.

The discounts offered during “Construction Month” will officially come to a close on April 18. From the 14th to the 18th of April, the bank will be a part of the 2010 Construction Expo Fair, which will be held on the grounds of the El Pedregal Company in San Antonio de Belén.

During 2010, the Banco Nacional estimates that they will provide over $180 million in discounts and financing for housing.

The Costa Rican Environment, Energy and Telecommunications Ministry (MINAET) said that it will support a proposal to include eight different species of sharks in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).

Their inclusion in the appendix would protect the sharks from commerce and control the removal of the animal from the sea.

Representatives from 175 countries will meet in Doha, Qatar from March 13 to 25 for the Fifteenth Conference of the Parties to vote on the on the inclusion of these eight species of sharks in the CITES convention. Attendees will also decide whether or not to add 41 other species of flora and fauna to various appendixes in the convention to guarantee their protection.

Among these 41 species are the North Atlantic red tuna and red coral. MINAET officials said the government institute will also back the inclusion of these two animals in Appendix II of CITES.

Appendix II is the second of three different categories of control in CITES. Appendix II allows for the “controlled trade” of any species that is included under its classification. Appendix I completely prohibits the trade of any plant or animal on its list.

MarViva, a Costa Rican marine conservation group, announced that they will vote for the inclusion of the North Atlantic red tuna in Appendix I of CITES.

In total, CITES guarantees some level of protection to nearly 41,000 species of flora and fauna.

The sharks MINAET officials hope to include on the list include three types of hammerhead sharks, the gray shark, the sand shark, the oceanic whitetip shark, the spiny dogfish shark, and the white sardine shark.

MINAET's declaration of their support for including these animals in the CITES register come on the heels of the announcement that the ministry will spend $26,000 on a national campaign to help prevent illegal trafficking of flora and fauna. As part of the campaign, MINAET will buy new vigilance equipment and post public announcements at national parks and border crossings.