Street Festival takes over Downtown Belize City

A popular street art festival returns to the heart of Belize City this coming weekend. It is the second time that NICH is staging the festival to showcase the works and crafts of artists from all over the country. Entertainers will also be performing at Saturday’s event, which is expected to transform downtown Belize City. News Five’s Jose Sanchez reports.

Jose Sanchez, Reporting

It’s not carnival or the September Celebrations but the main streets of downtown Belize City will be filled this weekend with music, talent, and craft for the entire family. According to Organizer Karen Vernon, it’s the Bliss 2012 Street Art Festival.

Karen Vernon, Theater Director, Bliss Center for Performing Arts

“There will be street booths on Albert Street from the Belize Bank down to Prince Street where artists will be displaying what they have to offer in lines of jewelry, paintings, sculptures and live art will be happening here as well. We have tattoo artist, we have a makeup artist, people doing wooden balls—that kind of stuff; but local creative artwork. We’ll have a food court which will be on Treasury Lane which is the street between Brodies and the Central Park and all sorts of food will be on sale there. And that will be on sale from twelve noon—so you can have lunch there. There will be a Kids’ Zone on Bishop Street beside the Bank of Nova Scotia and the feature for the Kids’ Zone this year will be a kite workshop where kids can go in under the tent and we will have supplies and children can go and learn to make a kite and walk away with a free kite. So we are trying to promote that. The Taiwanese Embassy has been doing workshops over the past six weeks in the different districts so they sponsor that. And Mister Glen Hyde, who is the master kite builder, did these workshops so he will be out there as well.”

The second installment of the annual event is bigger than last year.

Karen Vernon

Karen Vernon

“Definitely a bigger event. We’ll also be having street entertainment where entertainers will be going through the streets; not necessarily on the stage. We have the Jankunu dancers, the two-foot cow, we have the Pantempers Steel Band, Mister Peters Boom and Chime Band, we have Acentium Rock Band—the remaining which will be playing some of their own music and be backing up Channel Parks, Bastic and Nello Player to finalize the night on second stage in Central park. For the entertainment section, we have two stages and we have music dance and drama going on from two o’clock to seven o’clock on stage one. And on the Central Park Stage, we’ll have entertainment happening from six straight through to ten o’clock.”

Jose Sanchez

“Clearly this is a family event and you expect family type people to go there. But still, the question arises of security.  Will we have police out there? What’s in place?”

Karen Vernon

“Yes we have plenty security. Last year we had this festival and we had no problems at all—no fighting, no violence, no stealing—everybody was happy with the security. The area will be well lit; police will be visible. So don’t be scare to come on out. It will be a safe environment.”

In addition to music and drama, several past crowd pleasers will return including the statue lady. Reporting for News Five, Jose Sanchez.