The landscape and garden design are certainly beautiful, but are by no means the best out there.
During the afternoon hours, the festival ground are relatively vacant.
In Panama, crowds only begin to filter in around early evening. In order to attain the lively festival experience you may need to sacrifice a good night's sleep in order to drive home, or money on a hotel room. During the evening & night, the festival adds amusement rides, live music and dancing to the mix.
Scroll down to see photos of the festival & Boquete
Of course if you don't mind a slower paced festival escapade or the hot sun, a one day trip to this festival is perfect.
Since this event was originally a coffee fair, it still offers up a large variety of local coffee brands. Boquete is known for having some of the best coffee in the world, so if you enjoy a good roast you should give this event a visit.
The festival is surprisingly small, especially for an event that has been held for over fifty years. Venders occupy most of the fair grounds, selling flowers, coffee, and traditional hand crafted souvenirs.
Though many people come for the coffee and flower arrangements, to me the real star of this event is the town and the scenery surrounding it.
During the 10-day festival there is an explosion of venders outside the festival grounds as well as inside. While in town you you might like to visit the plethora of restaurants, ice cream shops, as well tour coffee farms.
So if you come to Boquete solely for the festival don't forget to stay a little while, look at the views, and grab a bag of local coffee beans for the road.
The festival is the attraction, but in order to get the full experience you have to appreciate the town that puts it on, Boquete.
If you want to learn more, my Mom, Betsy, wrote some about the history of the Boquete Flower & Coffee festival.
This article was written by my 14 year old daughter, Skylar Vayda. Over the next 3 months, Skylar will be writing a Panama-related article each week. She will be picking the topic. We hope you enjoy them.
January 14, 2016
Photo taken in Boquete, but not at the flower festival. We'll be going for the 1st time this yearThe festival is a huge celebration. Thousands of people flock to Boquete to see it.
So don't expect to get a last minute hotel reservations. People reserve rooms months in advance. However, you may be able to find a hotel room about 30 minutes away in David.
I must admit that so far the crowds have always kept us away from the festival.
But this year we are going! I am looking forward to it. I will write up our review of the festival once we go.
Now that our younger daughter, Blaise, is getting older, it is easier & more fun to go to these bigger event. (She is now 9 years old.) Blaise tolerated our participation in the Boquete Jazz festival last year. But I think she will enjoy this festival much more. Not only does she love flowers, but there are amusement rides and more vendors of both food and crafts.
BTW the Boquete Jazz festival is February 25-28 this year. To learn more about Jazz festival, read about our visit to the 2015 Boquete Jazz festival.
I hear that during the 10-day flower and coffee celebration, the Boquete fairgrounds overflows with lush fill landscaping and flower displays. People spruce up their own gardens as well. You also get many opportunities to enjoy a cup of local coffee. And there are many food stands, live music, amusement rides, handicrafts booths, and more.
If you miss the festival, you can still see the flower displays thru April. You can get in to see them for only $1.
The flower fair is located at Boquete's fairgrounds along the Caldera River, near downtown Boquete.
Also, in mid-April, Boquete holds the same kind of festival, but much smaller. This one is the Orchid Festival (Feria de Orquídeas). It last for 4 days. Many orchids bloom in April, so it is an ideal time for local orchid growers to show off their orchids.
