The Challenge Irazú: It’s a marathon. On mountain trails. Around a volcano. Sound intense? It is. The Challenge Irazú combines multiple races on one action-packed day, which unfold around the breathtaking landscape of the Cartago canton.

The construction of a new complex to house Costa Rica’s Legislative Assembly is at a stalemate following a study by the Culture Ministry’s Heritage Conservation Center that determined the new Assembly's design threatens historic patrimony.

“There is a common belief that performance art ended in the '60s,” says Tom Zabel. “But that is not true.” Zabel should know. The German-born bohemian is a working performance artist and educator, and he will lead a workshop on his chosen craft at the Costa Rican International Arts Festival.

Sculpted from solid stone and flawlessly curved, the pre-Columbian spheres of Costa Rica are manmade wonders.

The Tico Times guide to what’s doing this week.

If there’s one thing people know how to do in Jacó, it’s party. But unlike the usual after-surf drinking binges, the Jacó Arts Festival celebrates the region’s crafts and culture.

The Tico Times guide to what's doing this week.

Your weekly Tico Times wrap of what's doing.

President Laura Chinchilla signed a bill into law Tuesday establishing a mechanism to implement the United Nations' Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture.

YAWEPARE, Ecuador – An oil pipeline runs through this village to a Chinese rig at the end of the road. At night, when the rig is pumping, the pipeline is too hot to touch, but villagers say that in the morning it's a good place to dry laundry. That is its only apparent benefit to the families here, members of the Waorani tribe, lured out of the jungle by missionaries more than a generation ago.