Cultural Heritage takes top carnival prize
It has to be the most eagerly anticipated event of the entire September celebrations calendar…and this year Carnival 2000 lived up to its growing reputation. On Saturday I was out on the boulevard along with what seemed like the entire population of Belize City.
Jacqueline Woods, Reporting
Despite the heat of the day, thousands of people turned out to watch the annual carnival road march. Although the parade was slightly smaller compared to previous years, the spectators enjoyed the show.
(Carnival Bands dancing in the street)
Besides the carnival bands, the parade also had some offbeat entertainment…like the fire-eater.
William Neal
“Look at all the kids just gathering around Jackie to actually see the fire eater.”
Jacqueline Woods
“Is that marshmallows he’s eating or what?”
William Neal
“It looks like marshmallows, but I don’t think it is and he’s enjoying that.”
A total of 11 bands including junior and senior groups entered the march. They endured the steamy route for fun and for thousands of dollars in prizes. During Channel Five’s Saturday live broadcast, William Neal spoke with Linette Canto, a carnival official, to find out how the groups are judged.
Linette Canto, Carnival Official
“They will be looking at the spirit of carnival and that means how well prepared the participants are and how they motivate the crowd, especially when they reach within the National Stadium. They’ll be looking at how well designed the costumes are, how strong they are. They’ll be looking at neatness and also how colourful the costumes are and how the colours blend together. So that’s basically what they’ll be looking for.”
It was certainly not an easy task for the judges. However, they found Cultural Heritage Senior Band and Sixth Street Masqueraders Junior Band had all the right stuff to capture first prize in their divisions.
Jacqueline Burgess, Publicity Director, Cultural Heritage
“All the hard work we did really paid off. I’m taking about us starting to make costumes about two to three months ago. I’m talking about people missing classes, relationships breaking up; we’re talking staples running into your hands, blood running. If you look at our people right now, you will see some big scratches on their backs. For me, when I heard that Cultural Heritage won, I was talking to a group of friends, my knees buckled and I passed out basically. I was like thank you God, finally people who can realise creativity craftsmanship and originality all in one place.”
Cultural Heritage, which depicted The Legend of The Blue Hole, won $8,000, which Burgess says will be used to hold a big bash and pay some expenses. Sixth Street Masqueraders, which marched under the team Dry Weather Shu-Shu, walked off with $5,000.
On a personal note I would like to offer viewers an apology for remarks I made while anchoring our live coverage on Saturday. When asked by my co-host where I learned my dancing moves, I said that “A ga wha lee bit a 36 ina mi.” “36” is a term sometimes used derogatorily for Garifuna Belizeans and although I did not mean to use it in a negative way it is a reference I should never have made, not personally and certainly not as a professional broadcaster. I offer my sincerest apologies for the mistake.
