Yesterday Lin and I attended the much-anticipated International Flower & Coffee Festival, Fería de las Flores y del Cafe Internacional, in Boquete, Panamá. To our delight, it exceeded our expectations. That’s why I missed Day 13 in the Ultimate Blog Challenge. Maybe this post will make up for it—I hope so! Here’s what happened!
What Happened Unexpectedly Beforehand
We had planned to get up early and be gone by 8:00 AM to deal with the parking issues in Boquete because of the crowd for the festival. Neither Lin nor I slept well the night before, but Lin woke up not feeling well. Another part of our plan was to stay at a hotel in Boquete overnight to answer the parking issue and make it all easier. So, I canceled the reservation and luckily wasn’t charged for it.
A Change in Plans
As the day progress, Lin felt better so we altered our plans and went into town at 2:00 PM, a much shorter version of the original plan. When we got there, we headed to the parking lot near the hotel, but the road was blocked, so we moved over one street and ended up in the parking lot of the Tap Out, a local bar, right on the edge of the fairground, the fería.
Surprisingly, there won’t many cars in the lot, but I didn’t want to just park and have a problem later with the owner. So, I went inside and offered to pay to park. The man on duty said, “It’s $5 and if you come back to eat, I will give you your money back.”
International Flower and Coffee Festival
Happily, away we went! I approached one of the ticket counters and showed my e-cedula, a national ID card, and we paid $1.25 per person to enter the grounds. Along with the entrance ticket, each ticket had an raffle ticket to win a car! When we entered the grounds, the woman at the gate told us to look for the green building to enter the drawing—we found it!
We spent the rest of the day there until 10:00 PM, enjoying the beautiful flowers, a coffee break, conversations with friends, the culture and live music! What an amazing experience.
My Pictures of the Flowers and Fun
The festival not only has beautiful flower gardens, but fun statutes like the pot flowing into the glass and a grass deer. Lin is sitting on a bench near a watermelon table and chairs!
Immediately, we found Richar Huisa’s studio, a dear friend of ours. He paints beautiful nature paintings of the area. He also features paintings of natives that catch your eye!
More Flowers and Fun
This fairground goes on and on with rich vibrant colors and fun statues like the parrots, flamingoes, and the peacock. It was Children’s Day, so kids got in free. Families celebrated this beautiful time together. It’s summertime here, so the kids are out of school. What a lovely way to spend the day as a family!
Lin loved Snap Dragons in his beautiful garden in Tijeras, New Mexico, so I had to capture this colorful bed of Snap Dragons. And Woody welcomed us! Another grass animal, a turtle, and Lin in front of the amazing sign for Boquete!
I wanted you to see the native dresses worn here and see the physical closeness of this lovely family.
The other picture shows vendors on the road into the fairgrounds. Once inside, there are many vendors available to sell you a variety of local specialities—shoes, hats, jewelry and toys for children.
Our Night time Fun—Music and Dancing
The fun didn’t stop! In the evening, we had front row seats for the two musical bands. The first one entertained us with an eight piece band and two singers. I loved the horn section.
Then the main attraction came on stage—Alejandro Torres y Las Estrellas Del Ritmo with a six piece band and three backup singers. Alejandro was the star of the night.
The crowd size grew and went crazy singing every word to his songs and taking pictures like the boy besides us. What I loved about this get-together reminded me of the dances I grew up with—people of all ages! Next to us stood the children above. In front of us sat a elderly women. It truly was an intergenerational experience! We need more of these!
And we got up and dance—the salsa! Here’s a sample of the wonderful music of the night and the proof of our dancing!
Finally,
this was our first year at the International Flower and Coffee Festival, and I’m pretty we’re going back another day before it ends January 18, so we have a couple days! What a memorable time we had!
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