Fireworks Heaven

Have you wondered where all the fireworks have gone?

Probably not, but I'm going to tell...Panama!

You can buy MAJOR fireworks anywhere in Panama...roadside stands, stores, you name it. I wondered when they were going to set them off.

Midnight, New Years Eve!

We went to a party in Dolega, about 15 miles south of Boquete, for an early party. When we arrived, I knew almost no one. This is a group of people that I have not met.

There are many groups of people in Boquete that are tight knit and I don't know them. I wonder how many gringos are actually here? I have no idea.

This particular group have children. Most gringos are older, more the retirement crowd. These are working parents in Panama with kids.

This is a big deal here. Apparently, it is difficult to assimilate kids into the school system and the culture, so these parents have found each other for support and resources.

They are generally in their thirties and early forties, not young 20-something parents.

Normally in Panama, if you walk into a group of people that you don't know, they introduce themselves and include you...fast. This is one of the warmest communities I have experienced.

But not this group with kids.

I walked through the group, making eye contact and smiling, and not one introduced themselves. Maybe I had some lettuce stuck to my front teeth. Or a bugger hanging out of my nose. Or three eyes.

Fortunately, I knew a couple of people and was able to enjoy the evening.

They had fireworks...a lot of fireworks.

The show started at about 8 pm.

This reminded me of the 50's when I was a kid. We used to have neighborhood parties where several families pooled their money and someone bought wholesale fireworks...the big stuff.

Remember when you could buy the good stuff in the US?

Every year, the fireworks got out of hand and someone got hurt. A kid would get scared and dropped a Roman Candle spraying the crowd with fireballs, or it backfired into the kid, or a fountain would explode rather than spray.
Something went wrong.

This happened at this party too, just like when I was a kid. A memory that I had forgotten.

At this party, they were shooting off massive bundles of mortar style, commercial grade stuff. It comes in 25, 50 ,75 and up to 250 bundles of mortars.

The are spectacular for sure!

Soon, one tipped over, spraying the crowd with fire balls. That got everyone scurrying around! A few people experienced minor burns...just like in the old days in the US.

Beautiful fireworks at an interesting party.

We skipped the next party and went home. At midnight the most amazing thing happened.

People started setting off fireworks EVERYWHERE!

We look down on about a 15 mile stretch of the valley. Fireworks, the big stuff with multiple mortars, where going off all over the valley.

Neither Yella nor I have ever scene this many fireworks.

Panama goes crazy with fireworks for New Years. Wow! Amazing!

There was a smoky haze over the valley from all the fireworks.

What a display of pyrotechnics!

Happy New Year to everyone!