Festivals, food, dances, typical costumes and tourist places

-Festivals-

• National Festival of the Pollera: The national festival of the Pollera is celebrated in Las Tablas, province of Los Santos. The Pollera is the national costume of the country and it is praised by people all around the world. The 22 of July is when the festival occurs.

• Flower and Coffee fair: It’s celebrated in Boquete, province of Chiriqui. The lands of Chiriqui are blessed by a temperate climate and that makes them ideal for harvesting, especially coffee and flowers. The fair is celebrated by the people of Boquete during the firsts weeks of January.

• Carnival: The carnival is celebrated by Panamanians officially since 1910 but there’s history of this festivity happening since colony times. Panamanians are very fond of this celebration so it happens throughout the whole country and the biggest part of the celebration is the coronation of the carnival queens. 

          Other festivals that are celebrated by Panamanians we can mention: 

• Corpus Christi

• Festival del Toro Guapo

• Festival de diablos y congos

• Festival del Cristo Negro de Portobelo

• Festival del Manito

• Festival de la Mejorana 

-Food-

• Sancocho: The sancocho is a main course in the Panamanian gastronomy. It’s a soup made with yucca, corn, chicken and other vegetables, it is almost always accompanied with rice. It is served by Panamanians after work or big parties as a revitalizer.

• Tamales: The tamal is a very common dish in Panama and it is cooked by Panamanians during festivities and special events. It’s wrapped in plantain leaves and the dough is made with corn, raisins and a bit of chicken broth. It is filled by people with chicken meat or pork meat.

• Chicheme: The chicheme is a fermented cream made with piled corn. It’s traditional of countries with Caribbean coasts like Colombia, Costa Rica and Panama. In Panama the chicheme is mainly made and sold by the people of Chorrera. 

         Some typical dishes that are made by Panamanians can be mentioned:

• Ropa vieja

• Bollos de maíz 

• Arroz con pollo o con mariscos

• Arroz con coco o con guandú 

• Patacón

• Mondongo a la culona

-Dances-

• Congo: It is danced by the Afro-descendant people of the province of Colon. The dance is a mixture of movements, percussion and harsh sounds, colors, costumes and masks, they’re a fervent proof of the ancient African roots that have survived many generations.

• Punto: The punto is a dance and musical genre native of Panama, which includes in it’s structure melodic form and choreographic form. It has a composition created specifically for dance, it’s done by a singular couple that shows off grace, precision and charm. 

          Some other dances that are danced by Panamanians we can mention:

• Tamborito

• Cumbia

• Bullerengue

• Gammu burui

• Bunde

• Diablicos sucios 

-Typical costumes-

           Clothes 

• Pollera: The Pollera is worn by non-indigenous Panamanian women as a traditional costume. It’s composed by 2 separated pieces that consist of a shirt and a skirt, both made with fine fabric. The Pollera is known and admired by people from all over the world because of it’s beauty and elegance.

• Congo: The Congo costumes are filled with color, which represents the beauty of nature. A Pollera of two pieces, both made with odds and ends of different colorful fabrics, is worn by the women. They also wear flowers in the hair and big snail basin necklaces. A big, jazzy crown is worn by the Congo queen. 

           Instruments

• Mejorana: It is an instrument composed of five strings and four orders or choirs. 

• Rabel: It is a rubbed string instrument similar to the violin, which is composed of a variable number of strings, between one and five. 

-Tourist places-

• Boquete: Boquete is a small mountain town in Chiriqui. Panamanians, tourists and retirees from all over the world are attracted to this town by it’s scenic location, temperature and natural environment. Boquete is also the place where the Flower and Coffee fair is celebrated.

• Casco Antiguo: It is called Old Town by English speaking tourists but locals know it as Casco Antiguo. It’s the historic district of Panama city. Casco Antiguo attracts tourists with it’s colonial looking infrastructure and the it’s and historic buildings.

• San Blas: It is an indigenous territory governed by the Guna people. The territory consists as an archipelago of 365 islands, of which only 50 are inhabited by the Guna. These islands are considered a major destination in Panama because of their well-protected natural beauty, managed by the Guna indigenous people.

  Some other tourist places that are visited by Panamanians and foreigners we can mention:

• El Canal de Panamá

• El Valle de Antón  

• Playa Santa Catalina

• Portobelo

• Bocas del Toro

• La Comarca Emberá