Panamanian pride and culture will be on display all over Brooklyn on Saturday, Oct. 8, in honor of Panama's annual day of independence from Colombia, reports Caribbean Life.
Follow the sounds of reggaeton, salsa and cumbia to the annual Panamanian Parade, which will kick off at 12:00pm at the intersection of President Street and Classon Avenue in Crown Heights.
Along the parade route, local vendors and organizations will be celebrating with traditional clothes, flags, empanadas, tamales, carimanoals, sancocho and rosca bread for sale.
The 27th annual event is hosted by the Day of Independence Committee of Panama in New York. DICPNY Committee official, Maria McKenzie recently discussed the celebration with visiting Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley.
“Every year we work hard to make improvements to the parade. This year we will not have as many groups from Panama as we usually invite,” McKenzie said.
“The COVID-19 and delays in issuing visas limited the usual participation of groups that normally travel here.”
McKenzie said nevertheless, on Saturday, there will be no lag in the parade and spectators can expect the same spectacular parade presented in previous years. In fact, outside of Panama, the annual parade is the largest Panamanian display in the world.
210,000 Panamanians live in the United States, according to the Pew Research Center, and about 35,000 of them call the state of New York home.
Special guests this year include proud Panamanian and Emmy-award-winning Kadine Anckle and Panamanian jazz singer Idania Dowman. The parade will showcase local marching bands representing the nation and a stage near the Brooklyn Museum will feature a variety of music and performers.
"It's an anticipated event," McKenzie said.
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