The cool weather and nature that surrounds Boquete are elements that attract thousands of visitors to this mountain town in Chiriqui every year. However, there is another element that also invites people to return again and again. This element is observed, heard and felt in many places in the town as in no other place in the country. And it is that in Boquete, the arts are lived in every corner, restaurant and in the many events that they offer. It can be said that to have a population of approximately 20,000 people, the artistic offer is very wide, only comparable to Casco Antiguo in Panama City, which is the historical center of the country and part of a city with more than 1 million inhabitants.
Walking the streets of Boquete, the visitor finds an offer of live music ranging from ballads, jazz, rock and even tropical music. Likewise, the culinary arts are present with internationally renowned chefs who decided to stay in Boquete to make a career and offer their creative culinary proposals. The plastic arts have been gaining more and more strength with itinerant and permanent exhibitions inside restaurants as well as in public places.
The Cultural Exchange
The tourist character of this town brought with it that many decided to stay and live. Juan Miguel Brenes, who is an event promoter in Chiriqui, thinks that the number of people who have come to live in the town has made this cultural exchange richer, allowing the absorption of cultural influences from other countries where the offer of live music, gastronomy and arts are breathed and experienced.
Alexander Rojas, a renowned International Chef who has his restaurant in Boquete, believes that although he has only settled for a year, he feels that apart from the cultural mix with foreigners, the local authorities have been working to increase tourism and within it is the artistic offer. For Adam Rodriguez, a pioneer in musical shows in Boquete, he also believes that this mixture between foreigners and locals is what gives the town a different feel so that it offers music, gastronomy and plastic arts.
The number of musicians working professionally in Boquete during a weekend exceeds 30 people according to Juan Miguel Brenes and Adam Rodriguez. As for high-end chefs, the number reaches 16, not counting many more who work in not signature restaurants.
The Musical and Artistic Seed
“Many of the foreigners who have arrived are amateur musicians and they have mixed with local musicians,” says Adhi Velasquez, a singer and songwriter from Boquete. However, it reinforces the fact that development could take place in this direction thanks to the musical seed left in many people by two great music masters in Panama: Francisco Velasquez and Gonzalo Brenes. Both settled in the town and taught music to many people, creating musical groups that little by little became the artistic movement of the town today.
Tourism: Engine of Art in Boquete
For there to be people who consume the artistic offer, there must be tourism and local citizens who consume it. A vital premise for the development of the arts independently, and especially the culinary where chefs see business opportunities of great value in Boquete due to the type of tourists that arrive. Gastronomic offers that mix local culinary innovations and creativity from all over the world with musical presentations and even art exhibitions. Chefs such as Charlie Collins, Jorge Diaz, Alexander Rojas, Roberto Velazquez and many others work every day to elevate the flavor and gastronomic creativity of the region. Many of them hire musicians to bring to life the concept they have created for the restaurant. A collaborative work that is generating great results in Boquete today.
