Exploring Panama’s vibrant arts, traditions, and cultural events. Read features on music, film, festivals, and the creatives shaping local culture.
Panamanian urban music star Sech has announced plans for a benefit concert to support families affected by the October 9 magnitude 7.5 earthquake, calling on fellow musicians to join the initiative.
The first-ever Luis Russell Jazz Festival will honor the Bocas del Toro-born jazz pioneer with concerts, workshops, and history events across Isla Colón and Isla Carenero on October 16-17. The community-driven event aims to put Panama’s Caribbean back at the heart of jazz history.
After eight years of production, director Erik Cotrina’s religious documentary El Último Llamado de María premiered October 1 in Panama and four other Central American countries. The film explores testimonies surrounding the reported Marian apparitions in Medjugorje.
Panama’s cultural calendar for October 1-8 features Design Week, symphonic concerts, the Dolega patronal fair, a fantastic literature festival and events across five provinces.
Twenty-four couples formalized their unions in a mass wedding ceremony at the Bahá’í temple in San Miguelito on Saturday. The couples ranged from partners with decades of shared life to those beginning a new chapter together.
Panama’s Ministry of Culture is requesting $157.6 million for 2027, with $93.1 million for 65 investment projects including theater restorations, heritage fortifications, and expanded community arts programs. Minister María Eugenia Herrera framed the spending as both heritage recovery and a tool for social integration.
Docufiction film “The Dance of the Kokorrdit,” shot in Panama’s Darién region with Wounaan communities, has begun a six-week tour of seven film festivals across five countries, running from Vancouver to Gdańsk.
A tribute published in La Prensa celebrates founder Bobby Eisenmann as a “Panamanian Don Quixote,” recounting his exiles, the founding of the newspaper under dictatorship, and his lifelong fight for democracy and against corruption.
Central America’s nations celebrated 205 years of independence with a festival of food and tradition at Panama City’s Parque Omar, strengthening cultural ties between Panama and its regional neighbors.
The Orquesta Filarmónica de Panamá honored the late salsa legend Willie Colón with two symphonic tribute concerts at Teatro Balboa, with proceeds supporting earthquake-affected communities in Venezuela and Colombia.
A new edition of Joaquín Beleño’s 1963 novel Curundú prompts a rereading of the Panamanian classic as universal literature, beyond its long-standing framing within anti-imperialist narratives about the Canal Zone.
Panama’s film academy has selected CHICHERO, directed by Arturo Montenegro and Aarón Bromley, as the country’s entry for the 2027 Goya Awards and the Oscar race for Best International Feature Film. The film opens in Panamanian cinemas in late September.
Arraiján and La Chorrera are marking 171 years since their 1855 incorporation as municipal districts, an anniversary that highlights their evolution from remote territory into densely populated centers shaped by population growth and road transformation.
Authorities have inaugurated the Feria de Coclé as part of celebrations for the province’s 171st anniversary, giving artisans and producers a platform to showcase their goods. The fair is one of central Panama’s most anticipated annual cultural and commercial events.
The town of Ocú gave a historic farewell to accordion legend Yin Carrizo, with Archbishop José Domingo Ulloa calling on Panama to ensure its great artists have disciples, not just admirers. His ashes were laid to rest after a Mass and a tribute by five prize-winning folk accordionists.
Panama bid an emotional farewell to típica music legend Yin Carrizo, who died at 87, with a music-filled funeral mass in Panama City and a final farewell planned in his hometown of Ocú, Herrera.