Crowning Ceremony for Her Majesty Ana Lucía Ritter Soriano, Queen of the LXIV (64th) Festival Nacional de la Mejorana, by Her Majesty Marlene Maydee Espino Batista, Last Year's Queen.

Homage to Her Majesty Ángela Espino, Queen of the XXXIX Festival, and to Her Majesty Carmen Bárcenas, Queen of the XVI Festival, in her 50th anniversary.

Solemn Eucarist in Honor of Our Lady of Mercy.

Sung praises in honor of the Virgin of Mercy by decima singers and mejorana players from the region, at the Mejorana Palace (the main stage).

Recognition to Ricardo Iturralde, a vernacular mejorana singer. Medal presented by Licenciada Nedelka Diaz.

A décima (or décima espinela) is the traditional verse form used in Panama and several other Latin American countries. Each strophe or stanza consists of ten eight-syllable lines, with the strict rhyming pattern ABBAACCDDC.

Forty-Second Written Decima Competition Manuel F. Zárate, organized by Guararé's Lions Club and sponsored by Cable & Wireless.

Opening of the "Junta de Embarra" Photography, Painting, and Video Exhibition, at the Manuel Fernando Zárate (founder of the Festival) Museum. The exhibition will be open throughout the festival.

A Junta de Embarra is a public gathering for building a home from wood, cañaza (a bamboo type material), quincha (a mix of mud and straw), and other natural materials. This used to be the normal way in which a family would get its home built.

 Folkloric performances.

Traditional Bullfights. In Panama, bullfights include teasing of bulls, but not killing and normally not intentionally hurting the animals. There is usually one or more hired bullfighters, but there will always be guys who are interested in showing off, and who will become improvised bullfighters or will ride the bulls rodeo-style. This can be dangerous, but it often is quite entertaining to watch. Once in a while a bull will escape the barrera (rink), which creates another particularly thrilling situation, except when you are too close to the place where the bull breaks away. It is usually better to find a safe place from which to watch. Guarare features one of the only two traditional bullfighting rinks in Panama. The other one is in Parita, Province of Herrera. The barrera  (rink) is built each year immediately in front of the porches of the houses that surround the empty plaza, leaving very little space for people to move around the rink, except in the four corners, where the street intersections provide more space. In recent years people have built a few rudimentary, elevated stands in some areas around the rink, which provide added comfort and safety, but they are often reserved for owners and their friends.

Pilgrimage to the Statue of Professor Manuel Fernando Zárate (founder of the Festival). The statue is in front of the Festival's museum, which is a traditional house just two blocks away from the main stage of the festival, walking down hill beside the church. As a historical note, the house was built by a junta, just like the bull fighting rink is built each year.

Twentieth Sung Décimas Competition “Bernardo Cigarruista”. Sponsored by Her Majesty Zue Ellen Vargas Bosques (queen from a previous festival, sponsors medal).

Distinction and entrusting of the burlap flag to Alex Antonio Vargas Vargas, Flag Bearer for Friday's Great Atolladera.

Folkloric performances

General Folklore Symposium, National School of Folklore Dora P. de Zárate, at the A.P.C. classroom.

Dia Sereno (Serene Day). Traditional cowfights. Great Atolladera (Mud Party) inside the bullfighting rink (barrera) (atollar means to put mud on - atolladera is when that happens as a group activity).

Tuna (dancing parade) with the Burlap Flag led by Her Majesty and her court. and the flag bearer for the day. It usually rains a lot in September in Panama. The second bullfights day is called the Dia Sereno (Serene Day). That day the flag is made of burlap, and the queen's tuna actually goes inside of the barrera, where the cowfights stop for a while and some of the party goers will be thrown in the mud or at least partially covered with mud, for fun . The queen, her court, and others in the tuna will usually dress in white that afternoon, to make the mud on their clothes even more visible. The tradition to wear white is said to have been started by Dorindo Cardenas, a very popular and beloved accordion musician who wrote the song "Decimo Quinto Festival en Guarare" (Fifteenth Festival in Guarare) among many other hits. That song was made popular around the world by Colombian accordion musician Alfredo Gutierrez and in a salsa version by the Gran Combo de Puerto Rico. In the seventies, Dorindo was chosen as flag bearer for the Dia Sereno and Atolladera for several years. Dorindo is still one of the most renowned and sought after "típico" musicians, and usually performs for popular dances several nights at the Festival.

Fourteenth Female and Male Work Costume Competition Professor Dora Pérez de Zárate, sponsored by Cable & Wireless. Female: Festive Montuna Pollera; Male: Coleta Shirt. Medal sponsored by Her Majesty Mirín Díaz (queen from a previous festival)

Nineteenth Children's Drumming Competition, at the Festival's Youth Performances Stage (one block up hill from the main stage).

Nineteenth Youth Accordion Competition Didio Borrero, sponsored by the Didio Borrero Espino Foundation, Banco Nacional, Art and Culture Directorate of the Ministry of Education, and the Panamanian Association of Authors and Composers.

The children and youth delegations will perform their regional dances as part of the Victorino Fulito Córdoba Encounter, at the Youth Performaces Stage (one block up hill from main stage).

Thirty-Eighth Drumming Competition for Adults Gumercindo Díaz, sponsored by the Cooperative of Integrated Services José del  C. Domínguez, R.L.

Presentation of Award  Dora Pérez de Zárate to Professor, Folklorist, and Folklorologist Jorge Stephenson. Presentation of Award Orden Manuel Fernando Zárate to Mr. Gregorio Vargas, a renowned mejorana performer. The late Manuel Fernando Zárate and his wife Dora Pérez were the motors behind the founding of the festival in 1949.

Traditional Bullfights.

Twenty-Seventh Mejoranera Performance Competition Aristides Gil - Esteban Rodríguez, sponsored by MELO Enterprises.

Fifty-Third Accordion Competition Rogelio Gelo Córdoba for adults, sponsored by Panama's Ministry of Education (gold medal) and Cable & Wireless.

Award ceremony for the winners of the Forty-Second Competition of Written Décima Manuel F. Zárate, organized by Guararé's Lions Club and sponsored by Cable & Wireless.

Continuation of the Great Tournament of La Mejorana. Adult delegations will perform their regional dances as part of the Twenty-Second Folkloric Dance Competition Lorenzo "Lencho" Vergara.

Homage to two “Cultores del Folklore” (folklore supporters): Efraín Gutiérrez and Antonio Rudas. Medals sponsored by LicenciadoVentura Vega.

Festival Flag entrusted to the Díaz-Bravo Family, Flag Bearers for the Traditional Parade of Oxcarts on Sunday.

Gathering of the delegations, oxcarts, and general public, in preparation for the Oxcart Parade. This is on Carretera Nacional (National Road) in front of  Juana Vernaza School.

Fifth Children's Mejoranera Performance Competition "Gabriel Villarreal", sponsored by MELO Enterprises.

Tenth Children's Sung Décima Competition Félix Pérez, sponsored by Licenciado Ventura Vega and MELO Enterprises.

Beginning of the Great Oxcart Parade led by the Flag Bearer. Two competitions will take place during the parade: the Twenty-Fifth Tuna Competition Martina Castillo sponsored by ARGOS Cement and the Nineteenth Oxcart Competition Tiburcio Saavedra, sponsored by the Flag Bearer and MELO Enterprises. A Tuna is a group of musicians, singers, and dancers that usually parade through the streets; in this case a tuna accompanies each oxcart. Each oxcart is nicely decorated according to some folkloric theme and usually carries one or more people representing a particular custom from life in the country. Some of these can be quite funny. The queen, princess, and other ladies dressed in beautiful polleras also have one oxcart and one tuna each.

Award Ceremony for the Winners of the Tunas and Oxcarts Competitions, at the Festival Main Stage.

Violin (fiddle) Competition Escolástico  “Colaco” Cortéz.

Thirty-Eighth Great Classical Night of Violins. The music is Panamanian folkloric music.

Traditional Gallota. Traditionally this may or may not happen, depending on the calendar and how much energy and money people have left but, if it does, it is usually another day of partying. A gallota is a female vulture. The term is used here to refer to a townspeople celebration that MAY take place the day after the end of a big festival. Many of the visitors will have gone home, but the people from the town and surrounding communities can be enough to make another big party day, including bullfights, dances, and other folkloric expressions. The truth is, in Guarare in particular, and in Los Santos province, the Azuero Peninsula, and Panama in general, you do not need much of an excuse for a big party.