Veneto Casino presents 2009 Carnival Queen

Viviana accompanied by her princesses Grace Buron and Madeleine Bredwood, and followed by a boisterous group of carnival musicians and performers paraded around the casino giving a foretaste of the street celebrations to come.

Guests followed the parade outside of the casino, where they met with Veneto Hotel Manager Mario Malafof and Ricardo Guerra President of the Junta de Carnival, to raise the carnival flag to mark the official start of the festivities.

At 8:00 p.m. on the dot a fireworks display, streams of confetti and a fanfare of trumpets proclaimed that Panama’s Carnival had begun.

The signing of the carnival followed and Malafof passed the 2009 carnival flag to the Queen who predicted that “this year’s festivities will be even greater than the last, it will be the most enjoyable Carnival ever.”

Although not all details were shared about what to expect, carnival coordinators agreed that it would be much more interesting than before, a move that might assuage the fears of residents of Bethania, who went to court in an unsuccessful attempt to have the event moved to another location.

This year’s Carnival will last five days, beginning on Saturday February 20 and ending on Tuesday February 24.

The location again, will be the much disputed Transistmica, which local residents complain, makes access to their homes difficult.

There will be at least three different stages to please all tastes in music, including one specifically dedicated to tipico, and one for reggae music.

Of course there will be a Culecodromo where water is sprayed on the dancing throng who want to cool off, from the summer’s heat.

On each of the five days a special treat will be the Carnival parade from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. These parades will have a wide variety of themed floats.