National Festival of Arts aired live on Channel 5

Five districts, except for Toledo, participated in the National Festival of Arts this past May. Those primary school students, considered the cream of the crop in drama, song and dance, who gave extraordinary performances at the district level are now taking centre stage at the Bliss Centre for the Performing Arts. The much anticipated festival opened earlier today and is being broadcast live on Channel Five. National Coordinator for Expressive Arts, Leroy Green, says that this provides a chance for students from all over to show their talent to the entire country.

Leroy Green, Natl Coord. for Expressive Arts, Ministry of Education
“Over the next few days, the public will be seeing and enjoying the culmination of the Belize Festival of Arts. The Belize Festival of Arts was held in five district, except Toledo who postponed theirs until September. This part is the part hosted by the National Institute of Culture and History, which they have called the National Festival of Arts. It will feature fifteen of the most outstanding entries, from all the five districts who had their own respective festivals.”

Gavin Courtenay
“And how are these outstanding entries chosen?”

Leroy Green
“If they were done the correct way, as I know they were done in the Belize District, they had to get gold first of all. A part from getting gold, we were not looking for ordinary run of the mill things that did not go in because of mere technicalities, we were looking for creativity, originality, uniqueness in terms of presentation, overall delivery and impact. All audiences across the country are only used to seeing what goes on in their own district. Coming to this festival, you have the experience and the enjoyment of seeing what other areas of the country are doing with regards to the Festival of Arts.”

Gavin Courtenay
“Which districts will be performing on what days?”

Leroy Green
“The festival starts at ten on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. This morning it will be Corozal and Stann Creek. Tomorrow, Wednesday, it will be Orange Walk and some of the items from Belize District. And on Thursday it will be Cayo and some of the items from Belize District.”

Tickets for the performances at the Bliss cost five dollars for adults and one dollar for children. And as we said earlier, you can also view it live on this station at ten o’clock on Wednesday and Thursday mornings.