Top 4 Festivals in Panama

Panama is a country with amazing history, culture, and traditions and we Panamanians like to celebrate.   Thre are many reasons to visit Panama. You have probably already thought of the Panama Canal, which is one of the world’s most famous feats of modern engineering. Maybe you have considered the exotic jungles or the weather, which is warm year round. But there is much more to discover in Panama including our Festivals and Traditions.  A list of all calendars and festivals are on this link but below some of our favorites.

1. Panama Jazz Festival – Every January, Panama welcomes summer with the Panama Jazz Festival. The festival attracts international artists, promoting Panama City to the world of jazz.  The festival is the most important annual event held by the Danilo Pérez Foundation committed to positively transforming society through music. The week-long event includes free shows, classes, concerts, and educational activities centered around music and culture. In 2017, the four-time Grammy award-winning artist, Esperanza Spalding, headlined the events.

2.  Boquete Flowers and Coffee Festival – Boquete blooms every January with the  Flower and Coffee Festival. This ten-day festival featuring the popular coffee from Boquete artisans and amazing flowers have been held in Boquete since 1984 with the purpose of promoting agricultural development and tourism. The fair includes folkloric groups from Colombia, Ecuador, and Bolivia and local bands.

3.  Festival de la Pollera -During the month of July, the town of Las Tablas in Los Santos province, holds a festival in honor of one of the world’s most beautiful national costumes, the Panamanian Pollera. This festival is held at the Belisario Porras park in downtown Las Tablas. The celebration joins with the festivities for Santa Librada, the patron saint of Las Tablas, whose day is July 19.  The most anticipated part of the festival is the National Pollera Contest, in which women from across the country, including the current Carnival Queens, compete for the Margarita Lozano medal.

4.  Festival del Congo de Portobello -The most unique and colorful manifestation folklore of the province of Colon. The tradition of the dances and the interpretation of the Afro-American culture are expressed with an impressive visual wealth in the Festival of dances of Devils and Congos of Colon. These dances have great historic value in the Afro-Panamanian culture and the Diablo is said to be a representation of ferociousness of slave masters.