Band Fest will rock Orange Walk this weekend
The music may not be dancehall, reggae, or soca but people will still be rocking this weekend in Orange Walk. News five’s Kendra Griffith reports.
Kendra Griffith, Reporting
From north to east to west, the evening air has been filled with a cacophony of sounds … drums beat
[Band playing]
…trumpets blare
[Band playing]
… and bodies gyrate to the rhythms as groups all across the country prepare for Band Fest 2008.
Organised by Love FM and blessed Belize’s patron saint of music, Governor General Sir Colville Young, the marching band competition is in its third year.
Julia Carrillo-Jones, Member, Band Fest Committee
“Band Fest is a competition that has been put together to one; get music in schools, two, teach the kids how to use the music that’s given to them in school, and three to showcase the level of music that is learnt in the schools and in the marching bands.”
This year’s event features ten bands: one from Corozal, three from Orange Walk, five from Cayo and two from Belize City. But instead of Junior and Senior teams, the bands will be competing in wind and drum categories.
Julia Carrillo-Jones
“Not all the marching bands are at the level of wind instruments as yet. You have some of them that are investing in it, but are not quite ready to showcase their wind instruments as yet. They might not have teachers, they are not to the level where they can compete with the wind instruments. So we said instead of just doing one category and not having the other groups compete, we decided to do two categories: the drum corps and the wind instruments.”
The Succotz Festival Drum Corps will be defending its championship title in the Wind division. According to band manager Roberto Chan, they’ve been practicing hard and are confident they’ll retain the sceptre.
Roberto Chan, Manager, Succotz Festival Drum Corps (Via Phone)
“We are really into this competition, so we have different choreography, apart from upgrading our music. Everybody is hyped up and they want this to come one time. I am sure that yes, we will bring it back home again.”
Succotz will no doubt face fierce competition from its arch rival and 2007 runner up, Mount Carmel Primary … but they’ve also got four other teams to worry about, including the Anglican Cathedral College Tropical Sensation Marching Band.
Erin Montero, ACC Tropical Sensation
“I am gonna shake and show Succotz we can do it.”
Syndey Rosado, Coordinator, Tropical Sensations Marching Band
“The only way we can be good at what we are doing, we have to enjoy and we have to know that we want it more than anybody else. We said we want to be diverse, so we’re going to be trying to put in like every sort of music we could possibly think about: cultural, local, more entertainment type, what is more popular to the younger people and what might be more popular to the older people. That’s as much I could say.”
Erika Leslie, Holy Redeemer Primary
“We have to win the fest gyal, we have to win.”
Like ACC, Holy Redeemer Primary School is also hoping that the third time’s the charm. They are competing in the Drum category, going up against the Orange Walk Central and Uprising Drum corps.
Phillip Murray, Coordinator, Holy Redeemer Primary
“This year I am very confident that we will win. We will be out there Saturday to win this band fest.”
Justin Castillo, Holy Redeemer Primary
“Mr. Murray noh di shake ih head when he see we di practice. When we do a mistake he noh di shake ih head.”
Kendra Griffith
“And so that inspire you that unnu di do good?”
Justin Castillo
“Yes ma’am.”
Phillip Murray
“I think the presentation, after the parade our presentation will kinda surprise everybody.”
Julia Carrillo-Jones
“The bands, the level of competition has certainly increased. We find that more bands are investing more into getting their equipment, into getting trainers to take the level of competition one step higher.”
But while the competition grew in the level of talent, the number of bands entering the fest this year declined.
Julia Carrillo-Jones
“This year one of the cries that we got, one of the concerns we’ve got is that the funding was not there, the support was not there, especially with the Belize City bands. Everybody want to take part, it’s just the funding involved because to put up a marching band is really expensive. Succotz Festival Drum Corp told us that it is like about eight to ten thousand dollars alone to put up a marching band.”
Syndey Rosado
“We’ve had to get donations from different other areas and also do our own fundraising because equipment and uniform is the majority of the cost and it’s very expensive.”
Julia Carrillo-Jones
After band fest finishes, we’ve decided that we are going to meet as a committee and all during the year have activities that will hopefully get the groups involved and find trainers from the regional areas as well as from the U.S. to come in and teach the different marching bands or directors what to do. We’re gonna try to look for funding for equipment, get the GG to get more equipment into the schools, that sort of stuff so next year it can be one more step higher.”
Another change in this year’s Band Fest is the location because the Marion Jones Sporting Complex is under construction, the People’s Stadium in Orange Walk is the new venue.
The competition gets underway at nine-thirty with a parade through the streets of Orange Walk, beginning at the Estereo Amor headquarters and ending at the People’s Stadium. After recuperating from the march, at one-thirty the bands will each take to centre field for a fifteen-minute performance.
Julia Carrillo-Jones
“They will be judged on their performance, they’ll be judged on their appearance, on their talent, the level of professionalism and how the crowd reacts to them. It’s not just about how they dance, how they move, but how the music comes together.”
The winning Wind Band will take home the top prize of twenty-five hundred dollars, a trophy, the sceptre, and will represent Belize in a regional competition. First prize in the Drum Corps category is fifteen hundred dollars and a trophy. Kendra Griffith reporting for News Five.
This year’s visiting band is Banda Del Instituto Jose Manuel Arce from El Salvador. The hundred and nine member group, along with Ritmatic Clashes of Orange Walk and the Belize City-based Telemedia Minorrettes will perform for show only.
