metro

Carnival plans still up in the air

The president of the event says that he has everything under control for the upcoming fiesta.

la prensa

party foul: Residents living near the Carnival site are planning protests if the event is not moved this year.1147434

Despite that there are only five weeks left before the start of Carnival, the board of directors for events in Panama City has not been established, and a budget has not been set.

Additionally, the parade route for the capital has yet to be defined.

But organizers are not worried, at least not yet.

“We will have a good Carnival,” said Ricardo Guerra, who has been named president of the as-yet-to-be-appointed board.

The president expects to assign a board chairman through a notice to be published in the government Gazette this week. As for the other details, he said there is still plenty of time left. He pointed out that, when he held the same position in 2005, he organized the Carnival activities in about a month.

So far officials have not confirmed the artists that will be performing. The only list that has been made available is one of the local and international artists who have shown interest in participating. And although the parade route has not been firmed up, Guerra said it will most likely take place again on Vía Transístmica, because past experience showed that “it is more secure.”

While the parade route has proved to be convenient for organizers, residents living nearby have fought to have the event moved.

Max López, a resident of the Los Ángeles neighborhood, said that living through the event has been difficult for the last two years, and he is not looking forward to another year. He said that cars parked at the entrances of homes in his neighborhood, and residents had to constantly deal with people who have had a little too much fun at the event.

Residents of Betania, Los Ángeles and El Carmen are planning to protest the parade route if it remains the same as last year.

Residents complained bitterly after last year’s event, begging officials to move the celebration to an area that is not in the middle of a residential neighborhood. Those pleas, however, have apparently gone unheeded.

Además en Herald

• Bus bids delayed
• Banana crisis continues
• Officials to mail 1,706 ballots abroad
• Murcia’s associate to turn himself in
• Group to present research to candidates
• Sale not expected to have local impact
• Atalaya tensions subside
• Carnival plans still up in the air
• Cheaper gas increases fuel sales