Before dawn, residents of Colón and Chiriquí were lining up with umbrellas and firm resolve to secure their Christmas box from the Agro-industrial Marketing Institute (IMA).
The Christmas fairs in Colón kicked off at 3:45 a.m. at three designated points: the grounds of the Feria de Buena Vista, the Art and Culture Center in the city's historic center, and the peripheral market of San Juan. For the latter location, 5,000 Christmas boxes were prepared, while at the Art and Culture Center, 7,500 bags with typical seasonal products, including fruits and the traditional Christmas ring, were offered.
The IMA's Deputy Director, Walter Rodríguez Quesada, toured the points and assured that the event was incident-free, highlighting that this year Colón will have 17 Christmas fairs distributed between Costa Arriba, Costa Abajo, and the insular area.
In Chiriquí, the province's last Christmas fair began around 4:00 a.m. on the grounds of the David International Fair. According to the IMA's director, Nilo Murillo, 4,000 people had been attended to in just a few hours thanks to 15 payment booths that expedited the delivery.
Murillo took the opportunity to alert about attempted scams: "There are people selling hams that are not from the IMA. Don't fall for it. This is a program to support families with quality and low-cost products," he stated.
Activities will continue this Thursday in Santiago (Santiago Mall and Omar Torrijos) and Atalaya, while on Friday they will return to Colón. The busiest phase is expected from December 15th to 19th in Panama City, where thousands of families will seek their Christmas boxes and other IMA products.
Despite the rain and the early hour, the constant attendance made it clear that families value these Christmas fairs, where they can access quality food without straining their budget.
