Newsroom Panama - Panama News and Events in English

The Entertainment Scene with Zuleira

The  CanadaPLUS Club which started Christmas in Panama with a Carols by Candlelight event in Casco Viejo will close off  the seasonal  celebrations  in the old city with a Twelfth Night Revel.

By Lourdes Quijada

Decorated LED candles for participation in  Panama’s upcoming Carols by Candlelight event, which promises to be a pre Christmas “spectacular”  in Casco Viejo. are now on sale.

With Dra Lourdes Quijada

A little fire on your ice or a little ice on the fire. You can make your own choice on Tuesday September  27 when you join members of the American Society for a unique dining experience.

Members  and Friends  will be assembling at 7 pm at the recently opened Fire & Ice Restaurant on Calle 49 between F

ederico Boyd & Uruguay in Bella Vista. (valet parking). But move fast, the Society will be closing the list in a few days.

You will feast on a Mongolian barbecue prepared before your eyes from a large range of fresh meats, seafood and vegetables all spiced up with a wide  selection of international sauces.   If that’s not enough to feed the inner man or woman, there are additional choices from the  Pasta and  Salad Bars with both offering even more sauces to tempt the taste buds. But you  will need to move quickly.

Prices are $25 for members and $35 for non-members.   Tickets must be purchased in advance and  jay be obtained from from Marilyn Johnson  6583-1165;  250-0799;  Steve Walling  6612-8449; Cedric Gittens 223-5526;  Theo Chambers 6116-6063; Robert Emerick, 314-0480;  Eunice A. Greaves   6616-1896;  229-4009;  David Hunt   6496-9200;  Toni Williams-Sanchez  6683-7816,  250-0274;   Hari Singh  232-7140, 6758-9854;  Dental Clinic of Dr. Charly Garcia,  Balboa Ave, 6618-8877; "Promises",Golf Plaza, Calle 74E, San Francisco,   270- 7457 .  For more information: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ,   www.amsoc.org.

 With Dra Lourdes Quijada

You don’t have to be Canadian to   celebrate Canada Day and join in a fun packed evening at Panama’s Riu Hotel on July 1.

 With Dra Lourdes Quijada

Wherever you come from, Canada Day, July 1, will provide you with the opportunity to raise a glass to one of the world’s most friendly  and multi cultural countries and mingle with Canadian residents and visitors. 

The CanadaPLUS Club has organized a celebration that should appeal to all, from film music  and art lovers to those who simply enjoy a good party and good company

An art exhibition, an update on preparations for the Canadian inspired  International Film Festival in Panama and an opportunity to support the El Valle Conservation  movement including the protection of the  endangered Panama golden frog  will   contribute to  a fun packed evening, and you don’t have to be Canadian.  

There will be musical back up,  an open wine bar, cheeses and ceviches, the chance to  win a door  or tombola prize and  of course you will raise a glass to celebrate Canada’s birthday.

Music for toe tapping or dancing will  soft-jazz be provided by the Los Fukanos. The trio recently performed for CanadaPLUS at the Royal Wedding celebration at the Club Union on April 29. and had to be persuaded to stay on as guests filled the dance floor and spaces between the tables.

Resident Canadian artists Yolanda Can der Kolk and Germain Courchesne will be among members of the CanadaPLUS Club who will be showing their works, which  will be available for purchase

Yolanda, who built her reputation in Canada after graduating from the Ontario College of Art (OCA),   has produced  paintings with Panamanian themes specially for the event.

She will also be setting  up a booth to sell hand printed tee shirts with animal themes, to raise funds for the El Valle animal preservation project.

Germain, took up painting only after his retirement, and after only a little more than  three years has an exhibition in Montreal in June, and  another at the re-opening of a New York gallery in July. The work of both artists will be available for purchase.

Other members of CanadaPLUS have also been invited to display their art work. For further information on how to participate, go to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Rob Brown, CEO of Panama’s International Film Festival, and his father-in-law, Henk Van der Kolk, will be providing a video presentation on the festival, scheduled for early February next year.

Henk, was the co founder of the world’s biggest festival inToronto (TIFF) which attracts millions of dollars to Toronto, and brings in stars, producers, directors and writers from all over the world. He hopes to replicate the success of the Toronto festival in Panama, providing revenue, worldwide attention and an impetus for local film makers.

Attendees will also be able to get information on other CanadaPLUS events during the balance of the year. ranging from a murder mystery dinner theatre  to a pub night,  Thanksgiving Dinner to  a Carols by Candelight celebration in Casco Viejo. CanadaPLUS Members also hold an opportunity card providing discounts and benefits in Panama, including group insurance availability. Membership is open to all, so join up and meet a Canuck.

The Canada Day celebration is scheduled to take place at the Rui Hotel, Calle 50. 7.30-10.30 p.m.

Attendance is by  prepaid ticket only. Members $20, non-members $25. email  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it   or call 6619-6890

Tickets will also be available at the Group insurance presentation at the Club Union, May 31.

With Dra Lourdes Quijada.

Panama is supposed to be a retirement paradise, or as near as you can get, but for some, the music still goes around and around  as they get involved in local activities ranging from running a website or an expats group to producing and promoting opera. {jathumbnail off}

  With  Dra Lourdes Quijada

Some readers have questioned why the Rincon Aleman Restaurant on Calle 51, keeps popping up frequently in Newsroom Panama, and the answer is … Fritz Schmutte.

Fritz is mein host at this small corner of Deutschland in the tropics. And while he looks great in his lederhosen and Tyrolean headgear when Oktoberfest rolls along, it’s not his looks that earns him so many  reviews. It’s his ideas.

If you see him sitting at his well stocked bar with a laptop, he’s not counting the profits or checking the menu but working on yet another plan to maintain traffic flow. He knows that in the restaurant business today’s hot spot can turn into a northern igloo overnight. Restaurants come and go, and  those you once thought  regular customers can be chewing the fat at another watering hole before you can say  one for the road, or as Fritz might say, Ein fur die Strasse. {jathumbnail off}

But Fritz is a fountain of ideas, and on some busy nights even a fountain of fun.

Among his big promotional events are Oktoberfest, when he brings in the Chepo Bomberos to boost the famed German celebration of the hop … the kind you use in beer, not hopping around the floor or on table tops, although that too can be  part of the celebrations in far off Munich, where the tradition began. This year’s Oktoberfest is coming up fast, in September and lasts for  six weeks. I will explain the calendar juxtaposition in another column.

But Fritz has many other things on the entertainment  and feasting menu throughout the year,  like all you can eat Schnitzel on Mondays, a sausage fest on Wednesdays, all the beer you can drink for $10 on a Friday, and then there’s St  Patricks day and more  and a beef night.

The Los Fukanos trio and guest vocalist

As musicians say, he never misses a beat, which bring me to the latest addition to the Biere Garten section of Rincon Aleman  (complete with  delectable servers in traditional costume), is a Thursday night soft jazz session  with the Trio Los Fulanos de Panma

I first  met them at the CandasPLUS Club  Royal Wedding Party at the Union Club,  and fell in love with their soft danceable and sing along music. So   when Fritz told me he had hired them to sweeten the  lives of his customers, I decided to   travel to little Germany to get another earful, along with the sampling of one of  the many newly imported German beers.

My husband will attest that they know how to brew in Germany, and Rincon Aleman is the place to prove it.

So give yourself a treat, go sup, listen to the trio and say Guten abend to Fritz. Thursday nights from 6-10 there is a Fritz-long happy hour.Then the music from 8-11. No cover charge, and lots of good eats on the menu. Or you can dine first in the adjoining restaurant and after filling up move over for a musical dessert.

Out and About

With Dra Lourdes Quijada

Music, art and fashion and the future of children’s education in Panama all come together in the second week of May.

On Wednesday May 11 at the Teatro La Huaca at Atlapa Convention Center, Canadian pianist Alexander Panizza makes a return visit to Panama at a fund raising concert for an event that will take place on the eve of his performance.

Before the performance, there will be a unique curtain raiser at 7.30 p.m., with a fashion show by renowned French couturier Hélène Breebaart who has had a strong influence on fashion trends in Panama for over 20 years.

From the cat walk the focus  moves to Frederic Chopin including Fantasie Impromptu, opus 66,   the Opus 64 Valse,  Barcorale and 6 Revolutionary studies.

After the interval Panizza will play music by  Franz Litz starting with Winter Winds, his Sonata in C Minor and the Tango Rhapsody

Panizza is from Toronto the city that gave the world Glen Could and is  an internationally recognized artist who has performed with major orchestras around the world and has won numerous awards.

Of Argentinian heritage he received his musical education inCanada, Argentina, France and England and is recognized as one of the most outstanding pianists of his generation.

Fashion and music.. an evening to savor, and for $45 you will be not only feeding your senses, but helping to improve the lives of future generations of young Panamanian  children through FUN (Foundation United for Children).

 The world famed conductor Sir Malcom Sargent, beloved by students for his  “Promenade Concerts” (The Proms) at London’a Albert Hall once intoned that music should not be categorized. “There is only music” he told a friend of mine. Surely, had he still been with us he would have welcomed the initiative of combining visual and musical arts.

On Tuesday May10 in the Thomas Clavel  Auditorium of the Universidad Católica Santa Maria la Antigua,  there will be  a free  conference and training workshop covering connections between music and the visual arts “creation, reflection and pedagogy”.

The activity is for art educators, including teachers of music and visual arts at all levels, as well as graduates in these areas.  But it is also open to  musicians, painters and the general public interested in the arts.

The conference will be guided by Cintia Cristiá,  who earned  a Ph.D. in the history of music and musicology at the Paris-Sorbonne. She has specialized in the relationship between music and visual arts for more than a decade.

The event will impact teacher training in the education of Panamanian children and can be the beginning of an educational platform from which to progress in the general culture of the younger generation, says Frank Castagnet, Cultural Director of Panama France Union.

The event which starts at 6.30 p.m. is free to all who attend and will financed by  the proceeds of the concert on May 11. So put it in your diary. Tickets may be obtained from Blockbuster, or for CanadaPLUS Club members from This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
 
 

The social scene

With Joanne Walker

If you  are part of, or aspire to join Panama’s high end farandula crowd or want to stay ahead of the Joneses I have good news for you.

Out and About

with Dra Lourdes Quiijada

Twenty five members of the CanadaPLUS Club took to the water recently with Jungle Land Explorers, to explore Lake Gatun,   discover more about the canal expansion, and  dine aboard the lake’s only floating hotel.