Palmares Festival completed the schedule of international artists that will be performing during the festival which begins next Wednesday Jan. 14th.  The festival is a 12 day event which is actually a combination of parties thrown by different associations. The Palmares Festival is the largest festival in Costa Rica and draws hundreds of thousands of people from Costa Rica but also international tourists.

A massive concert by Puerto Rican urban music group Calle 13 will close the festival on Sunday, Jan. 25th at 12pm. For those who know the band, Residente and Visitante will be singing to a smaller paid crowd on Saturday, Jan. 24 at the mainstage of Imperial Bar. 

Other notable line-ups for the festival include:

Friday, Jan. 16th – Los Pericos, a reggae nouveau music group
Location: Marlboro Bar mainstage

Saturday, Jan. 17th - Mexican ranchero artist Ana Barbara
Location: Bull Stadium – paid concert

Saturday, Jan. 17th – Deep Dish live performance
Location: Marlboro Bar mainstage

Sunday, Jan. 18th - Kumbia Kings and ex-lead vocalist Pee Wee
Location: unknown

Thursday, Jan. 22nd - DJ Roger Sanchez for spin fans
Location: Marlboro Bar mainstage

Friday, Jan. 23rd - Argentinian music group Miranda! is back!
Location: Marlboro Bar mainstage

Check local papers for additional information or you can try this site which did not work for me but is published as a source for information about the event

palmares costa rica

Every year thousands of tourists visit Costa Rica with ideas of experiencing adventure, tropical rain forests, wild animals, and surfing. While the majority of these adventures are safe and relatively low risk, it is the alternative activities or spontaneous decisions that pose very high risks. What are some of these alternatives? Suffice to say, anything in which your participation when gone awry could cause grave injuries. Why?

While Costa Rica boasts the traditional 911 emergency number, it is nothing remotely similar to the USA, Canada, or European systems. To demonstrate differences, just a few basics about the other countries system: US,CA; rapid response under 10 minutes, stabilization for transport and trauma care at hospital, European;rapid response under 10 minutes, stabilization & trauma care brought to scene. All have Enhanced-911 services; callerID with physical address, coordinated radio command & control of fire-police-EMT. And all come equipped for the job.

In Costa Rica, while authorities may claim rapid response is a high priority it does not exist. Furthermore, the noted basics of the other countries systems does not exist here. When you dial 911 in Costa Rica, you are sent to a central office in San Jose where they attempt to coordinate a response.

Often, when they call the local Red Cross or Cruz Rojo there is no answer. If you become incapacitated during the call, no luck locating the origin of the call, hence, no location information. When a response is received and the Red Cross arrives they often are ill-equipped to deal with any emergency other than their training. Equipment is often non-functional, or non-existent and hospital transport can be upwards to 2 hours depending on your location and that meter begins after they arrive on the scene which can take up to an hour. more…

how do you dial 911 in costa rica,is there a 911 in costa rica

Despite the downturn in the economy and the airline route reduction, low cost carrier Jet Blue is adding San Jose Costa Rica to it flight schedule. They will operate direct flights from Orlando, Florida to San Jose, Costa Rica starting March 26th, 2009. This is good news for tourism in Costa Rica because in order to increase visitors, Costa Rica needed more airline carriers to add Costa Rica to their routes. 

Peter van Hussen, General Manager DayStar Properties expressed in order to fill the capacity of vacancies in Jaco we will need to work with the airlines to add more flights. This solution requires careful coordination and negotiation with the different carriers. State officials have long known that attracting airlines is a balance of incentives and ability to service the arriving flights.

This is a great news for surfers who vacation here in Costa Rica.  Many surfers who live on the east coast of the United States often use Jet BLue to take weekend trips to the beaches of Florida to surf. With the addition of this route, weekend surfers will be able to get connecting flights in Orlando and surf the beaches of Costa Rica.

Surf in Jaco will let you know which hotels here in Jaco and Costa Rica will offer specials for Jet Blue customers. We will work with the local hotels here in Jaco to offer special discounts for our visitors and Jet Blue customers. The good news for Jaco hotels and Costa Rica in general is that Jet Blue does not have any plans in the near future to open up any other Central American destinations.

According to sources, ICT or the Costa Rica Tourism Institute and Alterra which has the management contract for Juan Santa Maria Airport fought hard for this new route and is proud of their results.

does jet blue fly to costa rica,how long is direct flight to costa rica from orlando,who flys direct to costa rica