travel

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High-end, eco-friendly tourism a growing business
A visit to Ancon Hill
Festival of the Black Christ, October 21

Portobelo's Black Christ Photo DR

Portobelo's Festival of the Black Christ

The first big event of the tourist season, October 21

We always get a lot of Panamanians on religious pilgrimages to seek forgiveness and redemption at the Festival del Nazareno --- the Festival of the Black Christ --- which takes place every October 21. It also draws a number of foreign tourists, including the first wave of the Afro-Panamanian diaspora who come down from the USA to visit the old country over the coming months. (That tourist niche grows considerably for the November 3 and 4 patriotic parades and at Carnival, and is also noticeable on December 8, which is Panamanian Mothers Day.) The question this year is if the canal expansion referendum the next day will keep the number of Panamanians participating down, out of people's concerns about being near their voting mesas the next day.