Drums, “fiddles” and song at

The famous Mejorana festival

The street parade is a spectacle not to be missed.

The "Mejorana Festival" in Guararé, Los Santos province, is a celebration of the spirit of all the traditions of Panama. This festival will take place from September 23 to 27 and coincides with the patron saint festivities of "Virgen de Las Mercedes".

The "mejoranera" is the musical instrument from which the festival takes its name. It is a type of guitar, smaller than the Spanish one and usually manufactured in the workshops of the town. It only has four strings.

Dayana Carolina Herrera Castillero,
queen of the 57th Festival of
La Mejorana.

The first organizers of the festival selected the name "mejoranera" because of its wide use in the music, singing and dancing of the province.

Mejoraneros, drummers, accordionists, artisans, "décimas" (singing poetry) singer and folkloric groups from all parts of the country will take part in this four-day festival.

Competitions include one for the written "décima", dedicated to Professor Manuel F. Zarate, creator of the Mejorana Festival, and another is for the sung "décima".

Of all activities during the festival, the Parade of the Carriages is the most spectacular, because all the folkloric groups, tunas (folkloric dancers and musicians), and floats of all the traditional, commercial and governmental intities.

To travel to Guararé, take a bus from Panama Terminal to Las Tablas. There you can find accommodation, but Guararé has various hotels. Make your reservation on time, because during the time of the festival few rooms are available,

Festival del Manito

Fascinating fiesta on the Azuero Peninsula

The “Festival Nacional del Manito”, in Ocú, province of Herrera, which takes place August 16-19, is one of the most traditional celebrations in the country. Four days of activities including regional dances, duels, and a peasant marriage will be fascinating for the visitor.

The “Festival Nacional del Manito” was created 36 years ago to honor the peasants in Ocú, and owes its peculiar name to the farmers´ habit of greeting each other with the word “mano” (short for “hermano”, brother in Spanish).

Around 45 communities are participating this year in the festivities, which will be presided by the queen of the festival Her Majesty, Elida Guadalupe Navarro, a high school student of the San Vicente College in Santiago, Veraguas.

The bull is teased , but not killed.

Apart from the national costume, singing and dancing competitions, one of the most interesting events in the festival is the “tamarindo duel”, where two men fight with “peinillas” (machetes) for the love of a woman, land or any other score that needs to be settled.

You cannot miss the procession of the penitents, in which those who have committed crimes parade on the streets wearing heavy wooden armor, hiding their faces behind a mask with shackles on their feet to purge their sins.

Other amusing activities are the “juntas de embarre”, where a group of neighbors get together to build a house using traditional materials such as mud and straw and the “corridas de toros” (bullfighting). In the Panamanian version the bull never gets killed, but the participants may get hurt.

For the romantic at heart, you can witness a genuine peasant wedding, where the bride and groom are married “for real”. After the religious ceremony is finished, the newlyweds accompanied by their guests, singers, dancers and all the town folk celebrate the union in style. The wedding will take place August 18 at 10:00 a.m.

Penitents parade on the streets.

The festivities start on August 16 at 7:00 p.m. with fireworks and groups of dancers and musicians, who will escort the queen to her court for her coronation and the inauguration of the festival at the grounds of the Fair of San Sebastian. This will be followed by folkloric presentations and a “Tambor de orden” (dance with accordion and violin).

August 17 is a day dedicated to the children and there will be a national dress contest for boys and girls, singing, dancing and “gritos” (yodelling) competitions. At night there will be popular dances in different parts of the town.

The peasant wedding takes place on August 18 and on the same date at 9:00 p.m. the machete duel will be held, followed by a decimas’ (improvised singing) competition for youngsters and adults.

The festival comes to an end on August 19, with a big folkloric parade, more dances and drum competitions.

To get to Ocú, catch a bus to Chitré from the Panama terminal. Once in Chitre you will find buses that travel directly to Ocú. It is advisable to make reservations at a hotel in Chitré before you go, because accommodation could be scarce.