Carnival is Back!
The official announcement was made today at the House of Culture in Belize City – Carnival is Back! The date for the road march has been set in the schedule for the September Celebration calendar of activities. To make sure that bands get that extra boost, today the Ministry of Culture, through the National Institute of Culture and History, handed over a check to the Carnival Association of Belize to help with preparations for the bands. News Five’s Duane Moody reports.
Audrey Bradley
“Carnival is back, Soca Moca is ready. We always ready. We’ve been ready from 2019.”
Leroy Green
“Corona put everybody asleep, metaphorically, but this year 2022 it is back and Mother Nature will bring it back with a bang.”
Marina Welcome
“Definitely, definitely we are right here ready to rumble.”
Duane Moody, Reporting
Carnival is back after two years.
Patrick Thompson
Patrick Thompson, President, Carnival Association of Belize
“The wait is over. Long anticipated time. Like I said earlier, everywhere I go, “Boss when we wah have carnival again?” Well you all see and heard it for yourself today. It is back; September third.”
The signaling of the return of carnival in 2022 was made in the form of a donation of twenty thousand dollars from the Ministry of Culture to the Carnival Association of Belize as a startup for carnival bands. The hope is for a full return of carnival.
Francis Fonseca, Chairman, September Celebrations Commission
“They are the ones who have pushed it and we are just here to support them, facilitate them and provide them with some seed capital to get the seed going. They shared with us their budget for this year and we are going to work along with them to provide as much support as possible.”
Francis Fonseca
And as News Five found out today, the bands are prepared for all the activities, including the King and Queen competitions, the mas camps and j’ouvert – all leading up to the carnival road march on September third.
Leroy Green
Leroy Green, Mother Nature Creations
“From the time we heard that carnival is ready, we came up with our theme, I do the designs and as you can see we are at work. 2019 was the most outstanding presentation in terms of the entire band itself and the grand finally at the stadium and also the night of king and queen. The dramatic presentations were out of this world and this year we plan to top that.”
Audrey Bradley
Audrey Bradley, Soca Moca
“I noh know weh Soca Moca wah look like this year because we done have one hundred and eighty-eight dancers from 2019. I really noh want pass that two hundred. Of course I done have wah theme. We have wah theme from 2019 and I done jot it down everything cause I know ih mi wah come back something. Two years later, still ready”.
Marina Welcome
Marina Welcome, Jump Street Posse
“The team done ready, trust me. All we need is mula. Once we get the mula, costume start to make and we ready to go.”
Duane Moody
“It’s about preparing earlier rather than later so that you know what all you need, right?”
Marina Welcome
“Right. Once we know what all we need and what will be happening and we get the sponsorship and the donation or whatever, we are ready to go.”
Duane Moody for News Five.
