Its parade time in Panama!

Everything is ready for the big parades celebrating Panama’s 102 anniversary as an independent republic.

School kids throughout the country are currently banging their drums and hoofing their trumpets in last-minute rehearsals before the November independence parades.

In Panama City, as in most other towns in the republic, the two biggest parades take place on November 3 (the anniversary of Panama’s 1903 independence from Colombia) and on November 4 (Flag Day). Other national holidays this month are the "First Cry of Independence from Spain (Nov. 10 --national holiday observed with greatest fervor in the town of La Villa, Los Santos), and the anniversary of the actual Independence from Spain (Nov. 28, 1821).

Beautiful drum mayors and baton spinners constitute an attractive element of every marching band.

The city of Colón has a holiday for itself (Nov. 5), which pays homage to a group of prominent residents of the city, who, back in 1903, prevented Colombian troops from stopping the revolution, which broke out in Panama City. In the last couple of decades, many other towns have discovered their own ‘cries for independence’ during this month, thus establishing municipal or community holidays. Other towns, such as the mountain resort community of Boquete and Panama City’s satellite town of Chorrera, have long-established municipal holidays, coinciding with November 28.

At any rate, the entire month of November is a time of fiesta and a good opportunity for visitors to see one of the most colorful expressions of Panamanian patriotism.

This year’s Nov. 3rd and 4th parades will take place along two different routes. The first will cover Vía España, starting at 8:00 a.m. from the Caja de Ahorros headquarters to the Rey Kung restaurant, in La Cresta. The second will cover Calle 50, starting at 8:30 a.m. from its intersection with Calle Aquilino de la Guardia and ending at the Vía Brasil intersection. The starting points of both routes are within walking distance from the city’s hotel district.

Military elegance (although Panama does not have an army).

For many years, Panamanians believed their country had two independence days (November 3 and 28), but historians say such a statement is incorrect. A former colony of the Spanish empire for more than three centuries, the Isthmus of Panama declared its independence from Spain on November 28, 1821, and later became a province of Colombia, from which it seceded 82 years later, on November 3, 1903. Thus, Panamanians are celebrating a day of independence and a day of separation in the same month!