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Concert by the Blues Devils
Blues, Aug. 20, 8 p.m., the New York Bar, 8872-8539, www.bluesdevilsband.com

Free Film Show
“Une femme est une femme,” (A woman is a woman), by Jean-Luc Godard, Aug. 20, 6 p.m., Alliance Française.

Carnaval ArteViva 2010
Music, theater, dance, art, sports tournaments, street parades, carnival rides, food, workshops, alternative medicines, Aug. 20-31, Puerto Viejo, Limón, 8842-1741, www.arteviva-puertoviejo.com.

Costa Rica Adventure Race 2010
500 km through forests, teams of four, Aug. 20-28, 2766-5100, www.arcostarica.com.

Branding: Yourself and Business:
First official meeting of the Professional Women's Network of the Women's Club of Costa Rica, with experts speaking on how to establish a brand for yourself as a professional and promote that brand in business, Aug. 21, 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m., King's Garden restaurant, above Más x Menos, Sabana Norte, reservations required at pwn.wccr@gmail.com. 

“La Calle de los Títeres”
Puppet show, Aug. 21, noon-6 p.m., Central Park, Turrialba, 2258-7236, milagros.salas@fundaskene.org. 

“Las flores del cerezo”
Free film showing, Aug. 21, 3 p.m., José Figueres Ferrer Cultural Center. 

Stars From the Kiev Ballet
From Ukraine, Aug. 21, 7:30 p.m.; Aug. 22, 5 p.m., Melico Salazar Theater, tickets at www.mundoticket.com, Servimás outlets at Hipermás supermarkets. 

Concerts in Monteverde
Pato Barraza, rock, Aug. 21, 8 p.m., Bromelias Music Garden, Monteverde, 2645-6272.

Central American Theater Festival
“Margarita,” Teatro Pluie, Aug. 20, 7 p.m.; “Tanto de hombres como mujeres,” La Compañía, Aug. 21, 7 p.m., all at Spanish Cultural Center.

Calypso Concert
By Cyril Silvan, Chanty and Junín, Aug. 22, 10 a.m.- 5 p.m., Spanish Cultural Center.

Costa Rica's National Police confiscated a loaded .22-caliber revolver Monday from a 7-year-old boy at the María Leal grade school in Santa Cruz, in the northwestern province of Guanacaste.

According to the Security Ministry, the first-grader was carrying the gun inside his backpack when a teacher noticed a strange bulge in the bag.

The teacher halted the child, searched his bag and called the police. Officials said the pistol was loaded with two bullets.

The boy's grandmother, who arrived at the school after authorities notified her of the situation, denied that the gun belonged to anyone in the family.

The boy was released to his family and the case has been presented to the Santa Cruz prosecuting attorney, who will determine if further action is necessary.

Henry Quesada, principal of the María Leal school, said officials from the Education Ministry have been instructing teachers at his school to intervene when they suspect a child is armed.

The ministry presented the school with a series of weapon-intervention protocols at the beginning of the school year, Quesada said.

Costa Rica's Education Ministry has come under pressure recently to tackle school violence and misconduct after a 17-year-old male student shot and killed his school's principal last month at a private high school in Heredia, north of San José.

A celebration of the arts, education and culture is set to kick off Friday in the southern Caribbean beach community of Puerto Viejo, with Carnaval ArteViva 2010.

The Southern Caribbean Arts School (EDACS), which first organized the festival in 2006, this year has teamed up with the Puerto Viejo Development Association – as well as some 120 local businesses – to bring free concerts, art exhibits, theatrical performances, workshops and food and craft fairs to the community through Aug. 31.

Tonight's inauguration, starting at 7 p.m. in Puerto Viejo's Casa de la Cultura, will feature the opening of various exhibits by local and foreign artists, as well as a school band, street music and Caribbean food. Capping off the evening's festivities will be a concert at Tex Mex restaurant by Luis Angel Castro, the Costa Rican singer-songwriter who composed the popular song, “Puerto Viejo.”

Putting the carnaval in the festival's name, a turno will be set up on the waterfront in the center of town for the duration of the festival, featuring amusement park rides, games, food stalls and Tico-style bullfights (where people are more likely to be hurt than the bulls).

However, the main focus of the festival will be educational, said festival organizer Claudio Ambroso, president of EDACS. Free workshops will be offered on topics such as alternative medicine, Caribbean food, creative techniques and bicycle painting, and all of the area's local schools will be giving performances, ranging from traditional dances to puppet shows.

A full schedule of events is available on the festival's website, www.arteviva-puertoviejo.com.

For more on this story, see the Aug. 20 print or digital edition of The Tico Times.

PANAMA CITY – Agents with Panama's National Naval Air Service, or SENAN, and Panamanian police seized 1,100 kilograms of cocaine after pursuing a speedboat off the country's Pacific coast, authorities said Wednesday.

The vessel was detected Monday morning about 10 nautical miles from Coiba Island by SENAN agents, who pursued it until it ran aground at Punta Mariato in Veraguas province, an official spokesman told EFE.

The three crew members of the boat managed to flee, but authorities found 55 bundles containing a total of 1,100 kg of cocaine inside the vessel.

In addition, authorities found two shotguns, ammunition, two satellite telephones and a GPS system.

SENAN Naval Air Operations Director Nonato López said the boat was following a route in international waters but units from his department began pursuit when it entered Panamanian territory.

Another boat was found hidden in a marshy area near Punta Mariato, and López said it, too, was apparently used to transport drugs.

So far this year, SENAN has seized 12,118 kg of drugs, mostly cocaine.

The department has also arrested 19 people and confiscated nine speedboats that were being used for drug trafficking along both the Pacific and Atlantic coasts.

The Panamanian government maintains four naval air stations to monitor the country's two coastlines and strengthen its ability to fight drug trafficking. Another seven bases are under construction to augment that effort, and Panama is acquiring new coast guard vessels and helicopters to add to its monitoring and interdiction capabilities.