Panamanian Mothers Day

In Panama, Mother’s Day falls on December the 8th. The date is a national holiday and celebrated throughout the country.

On Mother’s day in Panama families will celebrate by traveling to spend the day with their mothers, wherever that might be! This means traffic in the beach area will be heavy, as many people travel from Panama City to the interior to spend this holiday with family. 

Mothers are celebrated, and the family takes care of activities like cooking or other household chores. Gifts are exchanged celebrating, mothers, grandmothers, aunts, and godmothers. A large family meal is a commonplace on mother’s day in Panama the event includes a variety of traditional dishes.

 
In Panama Mother’s Day was first introduced by the Rotary. At first, the day fell on May 11th, with the first celebrated day in 1924. The date was then changed to December 8 in 1930, the decision to change the date was made so the celebration would fall on the day of the Catholic celebration of the Immaculate Conception. 

The date change was in an effort to make the day relevant to the local culture, creating a national holiday, to be celebrated by Panamanians all over the country. 

As people all over Panama make the journey across the country to celebrate Mother’s Day today, communities will hold mass and a procession through the streets of the town, and festivities will continue throughout the day.