Bz. District Festival of Arts open
It’s that time of year again when the Belize District’s primary school students take to the stage…and while it’s not exactly “Star Search”, don’t tell that to the anxious teachers in the wings or proud parents in the audience. Patrick Jones has more.
Patrick Jones, Reporting
The stage at the Holy Redeemer Parish Hall will soon come alive in music, dance and drama as Belizean children perform in the twelfth Belize District Festival of Arts.
The show opened this afternoon, with a moment of silence in honour of Beverly Smith Lopez, who prior to her death last year was the driving force behind the event.
Fourteen schools: nine from the city and five rural will have their students’ arts and crafts on display this week.
Director of Culture Andy Palacio says that more than just pretty pictures and cute crafts, the children’s works are also competing.
Andy Palacio, Director of Culture
“Yeah, there’s a certain level of competition, so we have adjudicators who will be looking critically at their entries and then make a decision.”
The judges will have to look through over a thousand pieces of artwork this week before deciding which of them is worthy of a gold medal. Palacio says the Festival of Arts is an important avenue for children to expend their creative energies.
Andy Palacio
“The Festival of Arts serves to nurture the talents of our young persons from their earliest ages, hopefully to have them showcase their talents in all aspects of the creative arts, ranging from music to dance, drama, painting, drawing. All these things that could eventually lead to a viable career for them in the area of arts and entertainment.”
The arts and craft exhibition will run through Friday of this week and then the Parish Hall will give way to stage performances nightly for the next two weeks. Patrick Jones, for News 5.
The Children’s Festival of Arts was revived in 1992. This year’s Festival of Arts was opened by Yasser Musa of the National Institute of Culture and History. The best performers from this year’s festival will be invited back for encore presentations on May twenty-eighth, twenty-ninth and thirtieth. Tickets for the nightly performances are available from the Belize Arts Council.
