Belmopan Celebrates Queen’s Platinum Jubilee

Earlier this year, the Rotary Club of U.K. asked the Rotary Club of Belize if its members would be interested in joining Rotarians across the Commonwealth in lighting a beacon in celebration of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. The Rotary Club of Belize agreed to participate, and that event takes place tonight at the Governor General Field in Belmopan. The event, which began at six p.m., will see food, musical, and cultural presentations, with a live performance by Ernestine Carballo. These activities will also be live-streamed on Jubilee Beacons B.Z. Facebook Page. We spoke via zoom with Katherine Meighan, a member of the Platinum Jubilee Beacon Lighting Committee.

Katherine Meighan

Katherine Meighan, Member, Platinum Jubilee Beacon Lighting Committee

“The whole concept is that we are all lighting beacons across the entire various Commonwealth nations at nine fifteen p.m. this evening. So, all of us are lighting at the same time in essence. The whole goal for us here as well is that beacon is a symbol of celebration for birthdays, for anniversaries, for jubilees in the United Kingdom as we have learned through this experience. When we got the request and decided to take it up, we really saw this as an opportunity for rotary to highlight Belize, highlight the diversity of our culture, and highlight who we are as a people. For such a small country, if you want to look at it like that, there is so much diversity. In terms of the type of music you can encounter, whether in the north, south, or west, wherever you might be, additionally, the food, the artistry as well. So, we saw this really as an opportunity to highlight Belize to an international audience, cause as reference this is something being done by all the Commonwealth nations’ rotary clubs. And, our intention is that we are going to be airing this live and taking pictures and sharing this information. Alongside the showcase for Belize and its diversity and culture, what we love about this is we decided to partner with the Belmopan City Council on their very popular night market. We love that concept of the food, the drink, the activity. We want to be as safe as possible. And of course, with beacons you got to be outdoors.”