The lure of the Interior

Carnival in the provinces

Milagros Girón (left) and Yasury Vargas will be the 2008
Las Tablas Queens.

Many Panamanians from the capital city decide to cross the bridges over the Canal to take part in the Carnivals of the provinces from February 1 to 5.

The carnivals of the interior present artistic floats with elegant and attractive queens in their beautiful gowns in the morning and evening parades. Dancing groups called "Tunas" accompany the floats singing melodies that reflect the summer season.

In "culecos", groups of revellers bathe under the spray of water through hoses during the heat of the day. At night, people go dancing at the big outdoors dance halls called "toldos".

Adorning an evening gala
float.

Each carnival in the interior is run by its own organization with its own queens. During the entire year, carnival committees collect hire campaign funds to purchase the expensive queen’s wardrobe, material for the floats, and hire murga bands.

The most famous of these carnivals takes place in Las Tablas, in the province of Los Santos, where two queens compete, one from "Calle Arriba" and the other from "Calle Abajo".

The same "Calle Arriba" versus "Calle Abajo" format occurs in Chitre, capital of the province of Herrera, where their carnival is known as "La Berraquera".

In the city of Penonome, in the province of Cocle, the carnival is famous because its parade is water-borne at the Las Mendozas community on the River Zaratí.

Murga musicians play during Las Tablas culecos.

There are also carnival celebrations in towns all over the provinces of Veraguas and Chiriqui, with "culecos", "murgas" and queens. Towns in the western areas of the province of Panama such as Chame, Bejuco, Coronado, Arraijan and La Chorrera, offer the same attractions.

In the province of Bocas del Toro, the population organizes its own carnival with floats, "comparsas", a group of musicians playing a variety of instruments. Culecos use water from the sea. The city of Colon on the Atlantic sector, participates during carnival too.