BELIZE CITY, Thurs. Apr. 28, 2022 — News of the return of Belize’s Carnival Road March on September 3, 2022 has been received with great jubilation all across the country, including at the official announcement ceremony held at the Belize City House of Culture this past Tuesday. The theme for this year’s road march, quite fittingly to some, is “We outside! We back pan di road!”
Vice president of the Carnival Association, Patrick Thompson, echoed the excitement embodied in this year’s theme during his opening address at Tuesday’s ceremony—the very first official Carnival event for 2022. “It has been two years. Two long awaited years, people, since we have not reveled and ‘go on bad through the street,’ as we would say,” he said.
Thompson, who noted that, “since its inception in 1974, Carnival is and will be one of the highlights in our September celebrations,” then proceeded to tell those in attendance at the ceremony, “It gives me great pleasure and is an honour to announce the return—and I say the return of Carnival in Belize 2022.”
To assist with the preparations for the return of Carnival celebrations after a twoyear hiatus due to COVID-19, the Ministry of Education, Science, Technology, EGovernance, and Culture (MoESCT) handed over a cheque for twenty thousand dollars to the Belize Carnival Association. Hon. Francis Fonseca, Chairman of the National Celebrations Commission and Minister of Education, Science, Technology, E-Governance, and Culture, spoke of the growth that Carnival has seen across the country over the years.
“Everywhere I go, everywhere I run into people all over the country—because as you know, Carnival really started out as a Belize City thing, but it really has grown and really multiplied over the years and has really become a national Carnival that people from every walk of life, people from all corners of the country look forward to with great anticipation, great excitement, great enthusiasm,” he said.
The Ministry is also planning to provide additional assistance to the association throughout the months leading up to Carnival Day. “We want to return with a bang. We want this year to be good. We want everybody to feel the excitement, feel the rhythm of the beat. We want everybody to get out there and truly enjoy the comeback of Carnival in 2022,” added the Minister of Culture.
“After 2 lonnnnnggggg years we are happy to say we are back! Grease up those knees and backs! Pull out those flags & rags! Get in those workouts! Cause come Sept. 3rd we are on the road once again!” stated the Belize Carnival Association in a social media post.
During an interview with local media, Hon. Francis Fonseca said that one of the most frequent questions he has received as the National Celebrations Committee Chair over the past year is “when will Carnival come back?” and that he is happy to finally be able to give an answer to that question.
“As of now, we should return fully to pre-pandemic Carnival, and of course everybody is free to take their own precautions, and if you want wear your mask, you wear your mask, but there’s no requirement for that. So it’s a full return—that’s our hope and we certainly hope that that doesn’t change over the next few months,” he said.
Hon. Fonseca also spoke on plans to take Carnival to another level—something which the Carnival Association seems to agree with, as this year, Carnival bands are being requested to register as businesses.
The origin of Carnival, at least in the Caribbean, can be traced back to the island nation of Trinidad and Tobago— when, in the late 18th century, plantation owners would, prior to the start of Lent, hold masquerades and balls, which indentured workers and freed slaves were prohibited from attending. The slaves then began to throw their own celebrations, dubbed Canboulay.
While Trinidad Carnival takes place a week before Lent, however, Belizean Carnival, which was founded in 1975, is a significant part of its Independence Day celebrations in September.