Carnival organisers say 2007 will be bigger, better
Exactly one month from today the route from Yabra Green to Marion Jones Sporting Complex will be packed from sidewalk to sidewalk. News Five’s Marion Ali explains why Carnival 2007 will be a blast.
Marion Ali, Reporting
Carnival: It’s always colourful, hot and exhilarating … but some years it works out better than others. The key observers agree, is organisation and carnival’s marketing chief says they’ve got it covered.
Valerie Woods, Marketing and Fundraising, Bz. Carnival Association
“Last year when we got together Marion, the group of eight of us who volunteered said you know what, bigger, better, more organised, that’s our theme for this year. And so one of the biggest accomplishments is the advanced planning, we began meeting and putting our thoughts together as early as two weeks after last year’s carnival.”
According to the Carnival Association’s Valerie Woods, that planning will pay off for revellers and spectators alike.
Valerie Woods
“We have registration forms now, we have rules and regulations that are clearly documented, they’re procedures, processes, we’re in touch with the City Council, Police Department, well in advance. We are doing our homework Marion, to make sure that the groups who participate have the confidence and the viewing public will get so excited and back in love again with carnival so it gets bigger and better.”
“We commissioned Kenny G to do the first ever Belize carnival theme song. We’ll be distributing that on CD to radio stations, television stations, and the participating groups.”
Public Relations Officer for the association, Michelle Bowers, says they have been able to get more people to participate this year.
Michelle Bowers, Public Relations Officer, Carnival Association
“This year compared to the other years we have seven,–I think it’s seven senior groups, we have five junior groups, we have possibly two non-competing groups, including maybe one from Nicaragua, and we have a judge coming in from Trinidad, which is all new. We also had this year for the first time, we had a carnival youth summer camp where we actually had—we gave out certificates this morning. … With the help of Mr. Raul Villanueva, he guided the children, we actually had them doing their own costume using just everyday, household items.”
As far as the future of Belize’s carnival, Woods says the association will make linkages with Trinidad and Miami to further develop the product.
Valerie Woods
“Contact with Trinidad and Miami is to bring credibility for the judging and for the standards of rules and regulations, and so we’ve been working with these contacts. If we are successful with NICH and our affiliation, we think we can develop sound exchanges over the next twelve months with them to get our judges in Belize, even though they’re volunteers, to get them trained as well, as well as look at new regulations and improved ones.”
According to Bowers, cash prizes for the Carnival Road March this year will also be bigger than previous years. Marion Ali for News Five.
This year the Carnival Association has come up with a logo and there are plans to have an annual competition to produce a distinct logo for each year.
