Feria Internacional de David

The Feria Internacional de David (the International Fair of David) is a big event held every March. It is attended by around 350,000 people, and attracts 500 vendors and exhibitors from Panama and many neighboring countries. New ideas and technologies are on display, and there are many local business promoting their products and services. At night, it is party central with both live music and recorded music for dancing and enjoyment of everyone (except maybe not nearby residents because it goes on all night and it’s LOUD!)

I went with my friend and neighbor, and a couple new expats who live nearby. I didn’t expect to see anything different so I didn’t plan to take photos but of course, I found a few things after all.

There was ice skating. I don’t remember seeing ice skating before. The kids seemed to be doing very well! They either learn fast or they had skated somewhere before.

Of course there was shopping. There are a number of buildings totally full of vendors with clothes, jewelry, shoes, bags, toys, and other things too numerous to list. I don’t think I have ever seen so many shoes! This time I did well to resist all the cute little girl clothes (I already bought some unique hand made dresses for my granddaughters in Cuba, so I won’t arrive empty handed).

There was a stage with children performing traditional dances. The little girl in white was beyond adorable!

There were a few other things I didn’t remember. I’m sure the train has been there in the past, but the zip line? I don’t remember that. It wasn’t in use at the time though. Since this is an agricultural area there was a lot of farm equipment on display, and “furniture row” with the huge selection of furniture is always interesting. It must be a hard life for the workers though. In the back they were busily working on more furniture, and I can’t even imagine the logistics of loading all that up and taking it from place to place. As far as I could tell, they were all from Nicaragua.

There are fun things for the kids, a little amusement park, and I was going to say pony rides but as you can see, there are more than ponies. The tiny kid on the huge bull was so cute! The kids on the mechanical bull were also fun to watch. It was slow so they didn’t have trouble staying on it.

Of course there were animals. We didn’t spend a lot of time there but I caught a few on camera as we strolled though.

We wandered on and completed our circuit of the fair grounds.

By now it was getting dark, and my friend who gets up at 4:30 for work was fading fast.

It was a fun time at the fair wandering around and seeing everything, and I enjoyed spending time with the people in our little group. And, with my old retired people discount it only cost $1 to get in, so why not go!

About Kris Cunningham

We live in David, Chiriqui Provence, Republic of Panama! This blog is about some of our experiences in our new country.
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6 Responses to Feria Internacional de David

  1. marimarg says:

    This reminds me of the fair I attended with you last year.

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  2. Only $1? What a bargain! The MN state fair is like $14 for the day!

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  3. Looks like fun Kris. Love the toddler riding the bull!

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