With the project “Road to 500 years” it was officially inaugurated the cultural and educational events to celebrate the 500 years of Panama City being founded by Spanish colonizers on the Pacific shore.
On August 15 of this year there is a big celebration of the founding of Old Panama, the first city that was built five centuries ago and today is a world heritage site. This is the main reason why it was created the 500 years Comission by the Municipal Council of the District of Panama and the United Nations for the Development (PNUD), who organized an agenda full of memorial events. According to Monica Alvarado, Communications Specialist, “since the creation of the commission on December 2014 it has been a continuous process to tell the rich history of Panama City, and it’s diverse culture.
Social and Cultural Activities
The main themes related to the 500 years of Panama City are about the history, the cultural diversity, the solidarity of the citizen and creating spaces to help look at the future of the city.
Jonathan Hernandez Coordinator of the City Museum explains that “The projects with more visibilty are the Museums for all citizens, the 500 Years Library and the City Museum (500 Mural). The first one is an editorial project with four edited texts. The second has a social-urban subject matter that creates exterior murals throughout the 26 sectors in the District of Panama. The Museum of the City is an inclusive project, relevant and vital that includes past, present and future of our city, with the ultimate goal of projecting citizen’s ideas as protagonists of this celebration”.
Events for All
One of the events that starts and continues throughout July is Rally 500. Twenty six groups of six persons each (15 years over) will have to face challenges within a 3 to 5 hours period. The starting point will be at he Mayor’s Office Building on July 20 from 10am to 5pm.
Besides this huge celebration, Panama City has been selected as Ibearoamerican Cultural Capital, a great honor for every Panamanian and citizen.
There are still more cultural, social, historical and recreational activities to come for this big celebration. You can find more information on events at www.ciudadpanama500.org
