Panama, 11 August 2025. - The International Book Fair 2025 was opened and with this the Ministry of Culture opened its stand and is ready to welcome visitors with artistic and literary experiences from today, Monday 11 to Sunday 17 August at the Atlapa Convention Center.

At the opening of the largest fair event of the year, Minister María Eugenia Herrera said that "from the Ministry of Culture, we have to emphasize the value of reading for integral human development, and so from the National Government this great project is supported and we work to implement a Plan for the modernisation of 40 public libraries at national level."

He added that "we also participate at fairs, organize reading workshops, fall in love with children through their accounts as seeds we sow in our country's soul, confident that these seeds flourish into more critical, more empathic and more free citizens."

Throughout the week, more than 50 free activities will invite the public to discover the cultural wealth of the country through workshops, dialogues, conloquia, book presentations from different literary competitions, cinema, music and meeting spaces for all ages.

The program has been designed to have every visitor find a reason to stay. There will be creative painting workshops with Nilka Batista, an inclusive program under the motto "Retirement Without Barriers for All," and the Shock Radio cycle, that will bring fresh and direct discussions about literature and creation.

It will also cover substantive issues, such as the creative economy and audiovisual rights, as well as innovative proposals that link culture and well-being, such as Vital Space and Creative Fitness to exercise ideas.

When the night falls, the stand of MiCultura becomes an artistic stage. Patricia Vlieg, the Golden Quartet and the Catapile Quintet will put music into the sessions, while folkloric samples, poetry and gastronomy will remind the public that Panamanian culture is felt, heard and flaved.

The literature will be another great protagonist. Under the stamp of the La Casa del españador Panamanian bookstore, 78 Nobel titles from the literary contest from 2007 to 2023 will be put for sale with affordable prices ranging from B / .5.00 to B / .8.00, as well as an area of good offers with 20 titles to B / .2.00.

The most recent 2024 winners will also be available with prices between B / .10 and B / .12. Throughout the fair, more than 100 writers will have 40 spaces a day to sign and sell their books, making the stand a direct meeting place between authors and readers.

The MiCultura program at the fair also includes important moments for winning writers. On August 12, the book "The Paatron with Fingless Fits and Other Fingless Poems," Carlos Francisco Changmarín Prize 2024, at the Bejuco Chocoe Hall, followed by the Cultural Rincón at Indigenous Nations and the awaited Gala Miró at the Chaquira Hall, will be presented. That same day, the Speech Ngabere: Study and Situation will open up a space for dialogue about native languages at the Trenzo Hall.

The 13th of August will pay tribute to the writer Rafael Pernett and Morales while the 15th will be remembered to Aristides Martínez Ortega.

The 19th International Seminar on Copyright will be held from 14 to 15 August and the 16th will be awarded by the Rosa María Britton Competition.

With this program, MiCultura converts its presence at the International Book Fair 2025 into an open invitation to discover, learn and celebrate Panamanian culture in all its forms.