_{Photo: Chapel School dance performance}

by Kristen Ku

BELIZE CITY, Mon. May 27, 2024

The Golden Showcase of the National Festival of Arts is happening this week at the Bliss Center for the Performing Arts in Belize City, drawing hundreds of students from all over the country.

The Golden Showcase is the final stage after the Annual District Level Festival of Arts. It started on May 25 and will run for seven days, featuring 1,200 students performing in dance, music, poetry, and drama.

Today, on its second day, primary school students from Orange Walk and Corozal districts traveled to Belize City to represent their schools. The event is filled with talent, dedication, and pride as brave students perform before a packed audience at the Bliss theatre.

The event is organized by the National Institute of Culture and History (NICH) and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Science, and Technology (MoECST). According to Kim Vasquez, the director of the Institute of Creative Arts, a lot of effort has gone into this week, and she is most excited to see the energy each child brings to the stage.

“I can’t say that there is one specific thing I look forward to, but I think if you were to ask me, I would say the energy. The energy and the talent and just the atmosphere of what the Festival of Arts brings to students and their experiences, their early experiences in the performing arts. It gives them that foundation. It gives them that lifetime memory of being here on the stage at The Bliss,” she expressed.

Unfortunately, about an hour into the event today, there was a 20-minute power outage in portions of the city, disrupting a dance performance. However, Vasquez noted that the students were not deterred.

“It’s not disappointing at all, because all of these items here on this program, these are students that have prepared. They won gold in their respective districts and we were in the middle of a performing item from Chapel School in Orange Walk, and they were not fazed in the least. They started singing, and they finished their performance. And that always tells us that those students are confident and they are well prepared, and they’re actually happy and enjoying what they’re doing,” she said.

Additionally, the visual arts showcase was relaunched today as part of the Festival of Arts with the opening of the Children’s Art Exhibit. This exhibit features art from primary and secondary students across the country, and will be on display until the end of the week.

“What this creates is an opportunity for the students, when they are done performing here on stage, to go up to the gallery before they board their buses to return to their districts, and look at the art that their peers from across the country have put together,” Vasquez explained.

Tuesday will feature performances by primary schools from Belize District; Wednesday will showcase secondary students from across the country; Thursday will have primary students from Cayo and Belmopan; Friday will host Toledo and Stann Creek primary students; and finally, there will be a closing concert on Saturday.