A Dry Run of Newly Proposed Carnival Route  

The Belize Carnival Association is considering conducting a test-run of its upcoming carnival performances, implementing the newly proposed route suggested by National Celebration Commission. It begins the parade at Memorial Park and concludes at the Marion Jones Stadium. At the proposal of this new route, the association has expressed skepticism but the National Celebrations Commission, the Belize Tourism Board, and Belize Police Department claim that it is an ideal route for the safety of the public. Francis Fonseca, Minister of Culture gave us some more insight into the situation.

 

Francis Fonseca, Minister of Culture

“We’re working very closely with the Carnival Association. They are represented on the National Celebrations Commission. My own personal view is that the new proposed route is fantastic. I think it’s ideal and it’s not something that, we just came up with out of thin air the B.T.B. got a consultant to do an evaluation, a review of the carnival last year. And they made some very good recommendations. And then we reviewed that at our National Celebrations Commission. We discussed the matter with, of course, the Belize Police Department. They are also represented on the commission. We discussed it with all the stakeholders represented on the commission. And the general consensus was that we should propose this new route to the Carnival Association. But, of course we have to respect the role of the association. So we tabled that proposal with them. They have taken it back to their members. They wanted to carry out, as you rightly pointed out, a dry run. they did so, we arranged for that with the police and the Belize City Council. I think generally their feedback has been very positive. But, we will wait for them to make a final decision on that matter before we announce formally this new route.”