The
Manito Festival, from the Small Town of Ocú to the World
T
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he Manito’s Festival takes
place in the populous District of Ocú from august 16th through 19th,
located in the Herrera Province. At four hours from Panama City which is the capital
city of the country. Newcomers can take a bus with the routes Ocú-Panama or Las
Minas Panama at the transport Terminal, when in the capital. The turnoff to Ocú from the Pan American
Highway is to the left ten kilometers after the Divisa turnoff to Chitre and
Las Tablas as one comes from Panama City and to the right 20 kilometers past
Santiago when coming from Chiriquí. Visitors can take the buses with the route Ocú-Santiago
or Las Minas-Santiago at the Veraguas Transportation Terminal. People from different parts of the country and
from abroad come to see the wonderful display of customs and traditions that
this dynamic place boasts.
The word Manito is a
greeting taken from the word TALAS MANITOS a Spanish term that means “Little
brother, a term that our ancestors used to use when greeting someone. This was
used in sign of respect or admiration to the greeted. So you feel free to greet someone like this
when in the Manito festival.
The main aim of it is
to highlight, teach and show the uprising generations the value of the way
people used to dress, eat, trade, speak, clear the land, carry their dead and
sick people to the doctor by using a “talanquera” (a kind of improvised light
bed made out of sticks or bamboos with some blankets on it) and celebrate and
even the way they used to build the houses. Inclusive today people from isolated areas of
the district build their houses with mud and straw, which combined make up a
solid mass. The way they mix them up together is by forming a horizontal line
of about five men or more, that with their feet and a strong, heavy stamp on
it, try to mingle them till it is a solid mass of mud, that then is kicked with
their feet up to their hand, lately spread with the hands strongly on the wood
kind of frame formerly built up in the form of a house. The finish up of the
house takes a day if the owner has enough people to build it up.
Brief
History of the Manito Festival
Due to the great vision
of a group of zealous educators to conserve the cultural wealth and heritage of
the town, the Manito Festival was made National festivity of the Country by the
law 53 of the first of December of 1999. However the Manito Fest was declared
as National Festivity on the former date. The first time it was celebrated was
on august 13th of 1967. The goal of making the fest a national
fiesta was for promoting, preserving, upbringing in the new generations that
passion and pride to defend and enliven what identifies the people of Ocú. This
event demonstrates many of the idiosyncrasies of its people.
How
the Queen of the Manito is picked up
The selection of the queen of
the festival is quite a hectic process, both for the judges and for the ladies
that participate. Young ladies from different spots that are part of the
district of Ocú come to be part of a contest. In this contest the judges will
judge how they speak, dance, dress and how much knowledge they have about the
town they represent and about the culture and traditions of the District itself.
The ladies must also be quite skilled in public speaking for they will have to
be interviewed by the different Medias, while one of them finally seats on the
throne to be crowned as the official queen in the inauguration day. The queen of this year, Jenifer Michelle
Flores from San Isidro, is also backed up by the people of her community, as
well as by the commission of the Manito Festival, that every year gets a budget.
This year the yearly budget was doubled and due to it, other contests could be
fulfilled.
The
Tamarind Duel
In
the past, people of the town and of distant places came down to the Tamarind
Square to dance, meet people and of course to fight for the love of a woman
and/ or for the family name or friends with people that have had some kind of
quarrels before. So they finished whatever they had to there. Couples were to
dance, while others were buying some traditional food of the area or drinking
some kind of fermented corn beverage. As the party went on, some walked
dragging a blanket by the man they have had some problems with. If the other
stepped on it, which meant that they would fight to death under a tamarind tree
(the tamarind tree can be beheld till today at the Tamarind Square on the
Central Park of Ocú). In the party there were patrolmen that were some kind of
police in that time. If the men that wanted to fight did not stop what they
have just tried to do. The patrolmen took him or them to the “cepo”, which was
a heavy kind of wooden tool that had some holes the size of the legs. This
opened up to put the feet in the holes and then closed up to keep them up
locked. That way they would stay and let the others dance tranquilly and as a
result a tragedy could be avoided.
This is the “cepo”
where the party breakers were taken till the day broke up.
Over
45 schools participate in the parade day every year
The enjoyment, fun and
allegory could be felt on the narrow streets of the town of Ocú, when Teachers
from their respective schools and students of all ages participate in the
parade day; which is on the Sunday and starts at 10:00
am. To make this a reality, the community of each of every school is fully
involved. They coordinate a wide range of fundraising activities (like parties
and so on). The school teachers also seek for support by inviting a member of
the community they work at to be the “abanderado” or the Flag holder that with
his or her monetary help, will have the honor to represent the school at the
parade. He or she will wave the flag and lead them till the fiesta finishes in
the fair grounds. Every school comes with
well decorated carts pulled by bulls. These are brought by car and then put up
a night before the parade. The décor should be tuned up with items that
represent the place where the school comes from. As you see this is adorned
with “Tinajas” (a handmade container to store water which is made out of mud
that is ultimately baked at a high temperature). Teachers before the parade
prepare their students with chanties, dances and teach them the meaning of
everything the kids are wearing. 
This
is Mileika Arroyo Moreno, a kid from the Quebrada de Agua School. With only 8
years old, she danced, sang and walked all the parade under the hot sun to
teach us what she has learned from the teaching of the teachers and members of
the Community. She is wearing a pollera
dress that is only found in Ocú. I had the pleasure to ask her how she felt and
she very enthusiastically said “I am very happy”
the folkloric cluster of the San Miguelito
School also adorned the stage with its
beautiful kids in white Pollera Dress with their heads delicately decked with
the “Tembleques” (trembling things in the form of butterflies, flowers and so
on that are made with fish scales and/ or pearls). The energy that these
youngsters projected on the scenery was attracting and contagious.
The
folkloric group of the National University had its presentation on the stage of
the Manito festival.
The lady
artfully spread the pollera skirts to resemble a bird flying, while the men
held their arms out upward with their hats over the head of the dance partner
to keep the smoothness of the dance as one single chain. The ladies gallantly
looked and grinned at the dance partner. They showed emotions, and a lot of eye
contact is involved to create a kind of unity with the other party. On their
heads the ladies have some kind of trembling things that when they move it
creates an illusion, at the point that, what they are wearing seems to be
alive. It is mandatory to have their hair tied up or intertwined. The make-over
should be light. The lipstick should be in vibrant color, in this case red. The
embroidery is embroidered by hand and it takes approximately a year or two to
finish it. The jewelry is also made
rudimentarily and the gold used should be of high quality.
The man’s attire is
quite simple compared to that of the women, but it does not let to be of
distinction. The man wears a white shirt, a black formal pant with a white
and/or painted hat.
A young Tamborito
Singer is born and makes her way to the path of success
Proudly from the
Community of Quebrada de Agua, daughter of Tito Arroyo and Celia Perez,
Celideth Arroyo Perez is studying her last year of high school at the Rafael
Quintero Villarreal public high School. At the age of 12 she started singing at
the church and later on in small presentations at the college. Due to her
enchanting and melodious voice she was invited to many festivities, where she
could advertise herself as a prominent Tamborito Singer and an excellent
Salomadora. She is part of a youth typical musicians cluster of eight guys,
that with the help of the community and private sponsors, are gaining
credibility among the Ocuenos (people from Ocú) and nearby towns. She was invited by the committee of the
festival to open the Event on august 16th of 2012. We all wish her success and best wishes to
this young star of the Panamanian Folklore.
A
Representation of the Autochthonous Typical Regional Wedding by some kids of
the Los Llanos de Ocú Elementary School
The church is decked
with autochthonous décor. When the ceremony finishes, the new couple is paraded
to the fair grounds. There the just married couple gives a toast up with the
townsmen and the guests. They eat
regional food on wood utensils and on a hammock as it used to be. It is important
to highlight that Ocú is the only place where the autochthonous wedding takes
place.
The
impact that the Manito Fest has for the economy of the town and the tourist
sector
Over the years it has
been quite noticeable that the impact has been for sure positive. Local and non-local vendors, days before the
fest starts off, put up the awnings to sell their goods. Merchants say that
since the Fest started they have been taking gain of the influx of people and
of course of money. Tourist especially from U.S.A and other countries come with
the desire to learn and take with them a bit from Ocú to their countries, and
as a result, visitors spend substantial amount of money and this consequently
benefits everyone. The government and the private companies have also invested
on the embellishment of the town’s parks, streets, more small hotels and
hostels have been built to accommodate the visitors. Telecommunications also
have improved. The town has free Wi-Fi connections to all in the three main
parks, schools and hospitals.
