The Fair

Until yesterday, I have avoided the fair.

The Boquete Flower and Coffee Fair is our village's biggest event of the year. About 30,000 Panamanians come to Boquete for the fair. They come in droves.

Most people, locals included, dread the fair.

The name of the fair is misleading. Yes, there are flowers and vendors like any fair around the world.

But there is another thing that dwarfs the flowers.

Latin American discos!

It is impossible to articulate what one of these behemoths really is.

They are similar to traveling rock shows only louder.

This is a big business in Latin America. These touring shows move from one fair or event to another. They are multi-floor, mega sound system, meat market things.

I really don't know what goes on in one because I can't get close enough when they operate to see. They are so loud that I fear for my hearing and sanity just getting within a few blocks of one in full flight.

We can hear them at night, FIVE miles away!

The real purpose of the fair is the disco.

They fire up about 10 PM and go till dawn at 6:30 AM.

The mayor gets more complaints about the noise than any other thing during the year.

But they still go on.

Why?

Because it brings in a ton of money. And notoriety. The fair puts Boquete on the map...in Panama.

So it goes on.

Many people, gringo and local, leave town for the 10 days of the fair. You can't possibly sleep if you are within a mile of the disco which includes the entire village of Boquete.

We live out in the country, 5 miles from the fair, and we can still hear it.

We attended the fair during the day. It is a lovely event with some amazing flowers.

And it is also "shit pickers paradise." Booth after booth of the same trinkets that seem to appeal to, I guess, someone. Not me for sure.

We strolled around for about an hour. That was enough. It was a beautiful day so all was well.

I don't think I will go back.

I will just grit my teeth every year during the fair, when we actually have traffic jams, and the food stores have bare shelves, and people meandering around clog the streets.

Who am I to deprive a city of their heritage?

Let the fair roll on!