Panama is the southernmost part of North America and home of the Panama Canal that joins that Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The Panamanian Parade and Street Fair is our big festival in New York City.
Simón Bolívar, founding father of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Peru & Venezuela
Friday, July 24, 2020
CARACAS, Venezuela ~ July 24, 1783
Panamanian Parade
Saturday, October 10, 2020
Bergen St & Franklin Ave
Classon Ave Prospect Park
CROWN HEIGHTS, Brooklyn
The biggest Panamanian festival outside Panama, the parade ends at a Panamanian street fair
Panamanian Separation Day
Tuesday, November 3, 2020
PANAMA CITY, Panama, ~ Panama separated from Colombia and became the Republic of Panama on November 3, 1903
Panamanian Independence Day
Saturday, November 28, 2020
PANAMA CITY, Panama ~ Patriots drafted a Declaration of Independence from Spain and joined Gran Colombia on November 28, 1821
Panamanian Festivals in NYC
Panamanian Parade
Saturday, October 10, 2020
Bergen St & Franklin Ave
Classon Ave Prospect Park
CROWN HEIGHTS, Brooklyn
The biggest Panamanian festival outside Panama, the parade ends at a Panamanian street fair
Panamanian New York City
We are a Caribbean people with a cultural affinity for West Indians. The biggest concentration of Panamanian New Yorkers is in Crown Heights, Brooklyn.
Panamanian Consulate NYC
Monday-Friday
MIDTOWN, NYC
Panamanian New Yorkers
Salsa singer-songwriter Rubén Blades is the most famous Panamanian New Yorker. He was a lawyer before he came to New York. He’s around. Rubén rides the subway and he’s really cool. If you think, OMG, is that Rubén Blades? It probably is.
Blades played an important role in the development of salsa dura (hard salsa) in 1970s New York. He has many hits and is still making great music and winning Grammy Awards. His most famous song is “El Cantante” which Hector Lavoe made a Puerto Rican anthem. Ruben’s “Pedro Navaja” captures the danger of the streets in New York barrios back in the day. It’s a Latin version of “Mack the Knife.”
Panamanian Culture
Reggaeton started as pregones (selling songs) on freelance buses in poor neighborhoods of Panama City. Panamanians brought reggaeton to New York City where it jumped to Puerto Rico and developed before spreading through youth culture to Colombia and around the world.
Reggaeton
Latin rap, by the Jamaican diaspora in Panama, jumped to New York, and developed in Puerto Rico before going worldwide. Colombians are making great reggaeton now too. “Tu Pun Pun, mami-mami, no…”
Panamanian Polleras
The woman wears a Panamanian pollera with a beautiful crown. Polleras are based on Spanish Andalusían peasant dress from the Colonial Period. Today they are a folk costume.
Polleras are worn in many Hispanic countries, but we developed our own style of Panamanian pollera. They are some of the most beautiful polleras in the world.
The man wears a sombrero campesino, a farmer’s hat. The patterns in the hat are probably unique to a particular Panamanian town or region.
¡Gracias!