Businesses downtown participate
every year with long rows of firecrackers which are called "pagaras."
Pagaras vary in length. Some are small and last for a couple
of minutes. But others are quite long. One year the pagara in
front of "De Grote Boom" hissed, crackled, and exploded
for more than twenty minutes!
Fireworks can be very exciting in Suriname, since most of
what is sold here is not of the "Safe and Sane" variety.
Everything is available from small bottle rockets and firecrackers
to stadium sized-Disneyland style maripas. Lately, however, the
government has begun to place a limit on the larger and more
dangerous fireworks. But we can honestly say that the Fourth
of July won't seem quite the same after having lived in Suriname.
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