Panamanian Carnival

Carnival in Panama runs the four days before Ash Wednesday and the country effectively closes. In Panama City the defining feature is the culebra, tanker trucks spraying the crowd with water continuously through the afternoon heat, which sounds odd and is entirely necessary. The serious version is at Las Tablas on the Azuero, where the town splits between two tunas, Calle Arriba and Calle Abajo, each with its own queen, its own floats and its own composed songs, and the rivalry between them is generations deep and taken with complete seriousness. Each morning there is a dawn parade, each night a different costume.

What you actually see

• The Las Tablas tunas - two neighbourhoods competing with queens and floats.
• The culebra - water trucks spraying the crowd through the afternoon.
• The dawn parades - the murga at first light each morning.
• The pollera - the national dress, worn in numbers on the Azuero.

When to go

The four days before Ash Wednesday, so late February or early March depending on Easter. Las Tablas is the one to see; accommodation there and in Chitré books out months ahead and prices multiply. Panama City is easier but less interesting.

Honest expectations

Accommodation on the Azuero for carnival must be booked far in advance and prices rise sharply. It is extremely crowded, very loud and runs for four days with little sleep. Drinking is heavy and road accidents spike over the holiday; the government publishes the toll each year. Almost everything else in the country is shut.

Nearby

Chitré is twenty minutes from Las Tablas; the Azuero towns all hold their own.