Panama observes a calendar of public and religious festivals that trace back to Spanish colonial governance, twentieth-century independence negotiations, and living indigenous traditions. The country recognizes eleven national public holidays established by Law 14 of 1971 and subsequent amendments. Carnival is the largest secular celebration by participation and economic activity. The Black Christ pilgrimage in Portobelo draws the largest single-site religious gathering. Regional festivals in the Azuero Peninsula preserve music and costume traditions documented since the eighteenth century.
Carnival in Panama occurs on the four days preceding Ash Wednesday, synchronized with the Catholic liturgical calendar. The largest celebrations occur in Panama City along Cinta Costera and Via España, and in Las Tablas in Los Santos Province. Las Tablas divides into two competing carnival associations: Calle Arriba and Calle abajo. Each association elects a carnival queen and constructs parade floats judged on design complexity and adherence to announced themes. Panama City carnival features open-air concerts on stages erected by municipal authorities and private sponsors. Attendance at Panama City carnival reached an estimated 400,000 people during the 2019 event according to figures published by the Autoridad de Turismo de Panamá. Water tanker trucks spray crowds continuously during daylight hours. Most businesses close from Carnival Saturday through Shrove Tuesday. The tradition of culecos, organized water fights accompanied by live music performed on flatbed trucks, occurs in towns throughout Coclé and Los Santos provinces. Seco Herrerano, a distilled spirit produced in Herrera Province, is consumed in large quantities during carnival. Alcohol-related hospital admissions increase by approximately 30 percent during the carnival period according to data published by the Ministry of Health in 2018.
Independence from Colombia is commemorated on November 3, established as a national holiday following the 1903 separation. A second independence holiday occurs on November 28, marking Panama's separation from Spain in 1821 when the isthmus joined Gran Colombia. October 11 commemorates the Primer Grito de Independencia in Villa de Los Santos in 1821. November 10 marks the Grito de Independencia in Los Santos. These four dates create an extended period called "Fiestas Patrias" when government offices and many businesses close. Military parades occur in Panama City on November 3 along Avenida Balboa. School children participate in parades in provincial capitals on November 10. The sequence of independence dates reflects Panama's complex transition from Spanish colonial territory to Colombian department to sovereign republic.
The Festival of the Black Christ occurs on October 21 in Portobelo, Colón Province. The festival centers on a statue of Cristo Negro housed in Iglesia de San Felipe. The statue's origins remain disputed. Church records indicate its presence in Portobelo by 1658. One account states the statue arrived on a Spanish ship bound for Cartagena but the vessel could not leave Portobelo harbor until the statue was unloaded. Another account attributes the statue to a cholera epidemic in 1821 when residents prayed to a darkened Christ figure. Pilgrims walk from Panama City to Portobelo, a distance of approximately 80 kilometers, during the week preceding October 21. An estimated 20,000 to 30,000 people attend the festival according to counts by Colón Province tourism officials. Pilgrims wear purple robes and crawl the final distance to the church entrance on their knees. A procession carries the statue through Portobelo streets on the evening of October 21. The Hermandad del Cristo Negro, a lay organization established in 1861, manages the statue's care and procession logistics.
Corpus Christi celebrations in Villa de Los Santos and La Villa de Los Santos district involve dance performances and costumed processions occurring sixty days after Easter Sunday. The central event is the Danza de los Diablicos Sucios, performed by dancers wearing devil masks and striped costumes. The performance reenacts the conflict between good and evil, with dancers representing devils who resist and eventually submit to religious authority represented by a figure carrying a whip and wearing an angel costume. Mask carvers in Villa de Los Santos use techniques passed through family workshops. Dario López, a mask maker whose family has produced devil masks since the 1940s, operates a workshop on Calle José Vallarino. The dance occurs in the atrium of Iglesia de San Atanasio, constructed beginning in 1556. Corpus Christi festivities in Villa de Los Santos were declared part of Panama's national cultural patrimony by Executive Decree 166 of 2000.
The Festival Nacional de la Mejorana occurs in Guararé, Los Santos Province, during the last weekend of September. The festival was established in 1949 by Manuel F. Zárate to preserve Panamanian folk music traditions. The mejorana is a five-string guitar used in música típica. Performances occur on stages constructed in Guararé's central plaza. Competition categories include mejorana guitar performance, saloma singing, tamborito drumming, and décima recitation. The décima is a ten-line stanza form derived from Spanish colonial poetry. Performers compete for cash prizes and titles. The festival attracts participants from throughout the Azuero Peninsula. Attendance reaches approximately 10,000 people according to municipal estimates. Women wear pollera dresses during festival events. The pollera consists of a white cotton or linen blouse with embroidered details and a gathered skirt requiring between ten and fifteen meters of fabric. Complete pollera ensembles include gold jewelry called tembleques and balconies, and require twelve to eighteen months to produce when hand-sewn.
The Festival de la Pollera occurs in Las Tablas on July 22 during the Fiesta de Santa Librada, patron saint of Las Tablas. The festival features a competition judging pollera dresses in two categories: pollera montuna and pollera de gala. The pollera montuna uses simpler construction and is worn for daily activities in rural areas. The pollera de gala features elaborate embroidery and lace inserts. Judges evaluate thread count, embroidery symmetry, and adherence to regional construction standards codified by the Instituto Nacional de Cultura. Winners receive monetary prizes and the title of Queen of the Pollera. The competition occurs in a pavilion constructed adjacent to the central plaza. Pollera production centered in Las Tablas supports approximately fifty seamstresses and embroiderers working full-time according to a 2017 survey by the Centro de Competitividad de la Región Occidental. A museum dedicated to the pollera, Museo de la Pollera, opened in Las Tablas in 2005 and displays historical examples dating to the nineteenth century.
The Festival de la Caña in La Concepción, Bugaba District, Chiriquí Province, occurs in late January and celebrates sugarcane harvest traditions. The festival was established in 1956. Events include demonstrations of traditional sugarcane processing using ox-powered mills called trapiches. Freshly pressed sugarcane juice is consumed on-site. Producers demonstrate the production of raspadura, unrefined cane sugar formed into blocks, and the distillation of seco, the aguardiente consumed throughout Panama. The festival includes competitions for the largest sugarcane stalk and highest juice yield. Attendance reaches approximately 5,000 people. The festival coincides with the peak of the sugarcane harvest season in Chiriquí highlands, which runs from December through March.
The Feria Internacional de David occurs in March in David, Chiriquí Province, and combines agricultural exhibitions with carnival-style celebrations. The fair was established in 1955 and occupies a permanent fairground east of David city center. Exhibitions include cattle judging competitions, displays of coffee processing equipment, and machinery demonstrations by agricultural suppliers. Attendance exceeds 100,000 people during the ten-day fair according to organizers. The fair includes a beauty pageant selecting representatives for national competitions and nightly concerts featuring tropical music performers. Livestock exhibitors come from throughout Chiriquí Province and neighboring Costa Rica. The fair generates an estimated 3 million dollars in direct economic activity according to a 2019 study by the Universidad Autónoma de Chiriquí.