Looking Ahead at the 2024 San Pedro Lobster Fest

The 2024 Lobster season opens at the beginning of July. Lobster is a huge income earner for fisherfolks and restaurant owners in prime tourist destinations like Ambergris Caye. So, islanders go big at the start of the season with their thirteen-day Lobster Fest. It’s the largest celebration at the opening of the season in the country. Last year, Lobster Fest drew more than five thousand visitors to the island. Ahead of this year’s calendar of events, the Belize Tourism Board organized a press trip to get an inside look at how Lobster Fest has evolved across the country over the years and its impact on the communities that host them. Rebecca Arcero chairs the event’s planning committee.

 

Rebecca Arcero, Chair, Lobster Fest Planning Committee

“Originally it started with the idea that June and July were slow months for San Pedro for tourism. We needed to build up Tourism and we needed an idea to draw people in. So the idea was that the opening of Lobster season was an ideal draw. Everyone loves lobster. So these association members came up with the idea that we will do a pre party in the night before everyone is gearing up to go the following the day. Then we would have an opening day event followed by a block party. Originally we had three days, a pre-party and opening party and then a block party. The first year had about eight participants in terms of businesses in terms of booths. We are now up to twenty five booths and two weeks of events leading up to that block party and last year we had five thousand people attend. And I have to say it is really the dedication of the community that has thus growing because they participate, organize the event. We coordinate, but it’s their venue that makes it exciting, makes it appealing.”