Costa Maya Festival opens in San Pedro
It began life as the Sea and Air Festival and eight years later the massive party now known as Costa Maya has San Pedro, Ambergris Caye rocking harder than ever. Tonight and for several more to come News Five will be bringing you the highlights of the action, courtesy of the Belize City Marine Terminal and Caye Caulker Water Taxi Association. For Wednesday night’s festivities reporter Janelle Chanona and cameraman George Tillett drew the short straw and here’s some of what they experienced.
Some people came to the eighth annual Costa Maya Festival to see
the folkloric dances of Guatemala, others came to see Mexican actor Mauricio Islas, but most of the four thousand islanders and visitors came to see which of the participants from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and Belize, would become La Reina de La Costa Maya. The five contestants presented themselves in swimwear, cultural dress, and evening gowns as an excited audience wondered who would cop the coveted crown. And unlike most other Belizean beauty pageants, they did not have to wait long.
Announcer
“La Gandadora es Miss Mexico!”
Just before midnight on Wednesday, nineteen year old Denise Zarahid Guzman of Mexico was crowned La Reina de La Costa Maya for
1999-2000.
Denise Zarahid Guzman, Miss Costa Maya 1999-2000
“I feel very happy. I feel very satisfied. I have enjoyed my stay with you all and I am very happy with the results of tonight’s pageant.”
Now that the winner had been chosen, we wondered if the relationship between the contestants has changed.
Denise Zarahid Guzman
“Even though we spent so little time together, we have gotten along wonderfully. I know that I have a house in everyone’s, in all of the other participants’ countries, as well they know that my house is their house.”
And while all in attendance would have welcomed Miss Mexico into their home with open arms, some people admitted that their sentiments lay elsewhere.
Spectator #1
“El Salvador.”
Q: “Why?”
Spectator #1
“Because I thought she was the prettiest.”
Spectator #2
“El Salvador, she was beautiful.”
Spectator #3
“Well probably Honduras but she didn’t make it. I don’t know why.”
Spectator #4
“Belize.”
Q: “Why?”
Spectator #4
“She really performed well and she answered the question good but Mexico won.”
Spectator #5
“I wanted Belize to win also.”
Q: “Did your contestant win?”
Spectator #6
“I was supporting Belize and Ms. Vasquez did an outstanding job and in my mind she won.”
Now that the opening event is over, everyone is looking forward to a big weekend of festivities. One that will hopefully make cash registers ring during an otherwise slow time of year for tourism.
Mark Espat, Minister of Tourism
“This festival assists in bringing tourists during the off season. As a matter of fact, it has become the biggest single event that attracts people to San Pedro and to Belize for the summer and so we are very proud of the organizers and of this display of talent here in San Pedro.”
Espat admits that the sustainability of such a festival is a problem since support from the national public and private sector has been minimal. He says the continued growth of the festival has to be attributed to the support of local businesses.
Mark Espat
“I certainly think the pageant and the contest and the festivities have grown in those years. I understand right now that the hotels are almost filled to capacity and the hoteliers, the restaurateurs, the people in the boat business, the plane business and in the food and beverage business will no doubt put resources to making sure that this pageant continues to be a success and the festival is a success as well.”
Eiden Salazar, Chairman, Costa Maya Festival Committee
“This year’s festival looks very promising after looking at the amount of people that came in tonight. I feel very confident that yes, it can be achieved and even if we broke even, it’s still a gain for us.”
Q: “Do you think last night’s cancellation affected you at all?”
Eiden Salazar
“It benefited us definitely. We cancelled it yesterday. It was a tough decision for us and we made that decision and today we can see that it did pay back.
We need to stress that this festival is not only for international tourists but also local tourists. We need to have the Belizeans here enjoying themselves as well.”
Janelle Chanona
“While festival organizers are hoping the weather won’t be a problem later on in the week, as you can see right now, the weather is perfect for a party San Pedro style with the new Reina de La Costa Maya, Denise Zarahid Guzman. From San Pedro, I’m Janelle Chanona for News Five.”
Miss El Salvador, Marcela Eugenia Godoy, was first runner-up in the pageant. The new Miss Costa Maya and the rest of the contestants will be in San Pedro for the rest of the week attending the festival as distinguished guests. Tonight the festival celebrates Honduras night with performances by Los Rolands and El Grupo Coma Yaguela. Janelle Chanona’s story was made possible through the sponsorship of the Belize Marine Terminal and Caye Caulker Water Taxi Association.
