Remembering Andy P 10 Years Later
Andy Palacio
It has been ten years since renowned Belizean musical icon Andy Palacio passed away. Despite his untimely death in 2008, Palacio’s legacy in world music remains intact. This weekend, friends and family of the late cultural ambassador will gather in Belize City to celebrate his life on the eve of what would have been his fifty-eighth birthday. On Saturday, a candlelight vigil will be held from the Civic Center to Saint Martin’s Church where the National Garifuna Council, along with the Garifuna Choir will participate in a memorial mass in Palacio’s honor. Coordinator Cynthia Cayetano told us more.
Cynthia Cayetano
Cynthia Cayetano, Secretary, NGC Belize City
“Over the past four years, I believe, the National Garifuna Council in collaboration with Angela Palacio, because it‘s actually the brainchild of Angela Palacio, we have been having a mass on his birthday. Usually it‘s done on his birthday, December second, but this year we are doing it tomorrow, December first, since December second is on Sunday. This year we have a little extra twist which will do a vigil and this vigil is the brainchild of the vice president of National Garifuna Council Belize City Branch, Rudolph Marin, and so we meet in front of the Belize Civic Center at six p.m. We encourage people to bring candles and we‘ll have a candlelight vigil from there to St. Martin De Porres Church. When we get to the church we‘ll release ten balloons because this is Andy‘s tenth year celebrating his birthday in Seiri, so we commemorate it with that and then we have the mass.”
Isani Cayetano
“Now is there an appeal for Belizeans, fans of his music, perhaps old friends of his to come out tomorrow and be a part of this celebration?”
Cynthia Cayetano
“Of course there‘s an appeal and I recently wrote on my Facebook page that we loved him in life, so now that he‘s gone let‘s keep his legacy alive. He‘s our greatest ambassador to date, as far as I am concerned. You have people who come from all parts of the world just to know where Andy Palacio was born and one of the suggestions that somebody gave this year, and I think it‘s a very good idea, is that the collection be donated to his gravesite, I guess to the village council in Barranco, you know, to do something about his gravesite because it‘s not the best and I think we need to do a little bit better where that is concerned.”
Andy Palacio was born and raised in village of Barranco. In 2007, he was bestowed the prestigious WOMEX Award and the BBC3 for World Music award in the Americas Category in 2008. Additionally, Palacio was also named as the prestigious UNESCO Artist for Peace.
