Fifty Years, Many Routes: Carnival’s Colorful Journey

September Celebrations are in full swing, and we are counting down to Saturday’s Carnival Road March. In 2024, the Belize Carnival Association and the September Celebrations Committee tried a new route for the road march. This was not the first time the route was altered. The last fifty years of carnival road march have seen multiple route changes. In tonight’s installment of Kolcha Tuesday, News Five’s Paul Lopez takes a closer look at the route changes, the considerations that influenced those changes, and how the latest route appeals to revelers and spectators alike. Here is that report.

 

Paul Lopez, Reporting

At the inception of carnival in Belize City fifty years ago, revelers marched from Cinderella Plaza on the northside to the Bird Isle on the southside. Since then, the route has seen numerous changes. One of the most talked-about changes came in 2017. That year, organizers shifted the parade from the Yabra area, winding through Central American Boulevard and onto Princess Margaret Drive, ending at the Marion Jones Sporting Complex. But not everyone was thrilled. The new route caused major traffic headaches, blocking access to both city’s main highways, and even the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital, for more than four hours. So, in true Belizean fashion, a solution was born.

 

Philip Willoughby, Councilor, Belize City Council (File: July 17^th, 2017)

“Caesar Ridge   we take a right into Central American Boulevard; right into Vernon Street; left into Bel-China, into Douglas Jones, Kelly Street, Cinderella Plaza, left into Kelly Street, right into Baymen Avenue and left off the Princess Margaret Drive to the Marion Jones Stadium.”

 

Carnival is rooted in cultural expression, through dance, music and costumes. It’s hard to truly celebrate culture when the streets are packed and people can barely move. Narrow roads turn into bottlenecks, and when you throw large trucks into the mix, it becomes downright dangerous for spectators. That’s exactly what was unfolding on Baymen Avenue, a celebration stifled by congestion and safety concerns. The overcrowded street also posed challenges for policing, and violent brawls like this one can go unchecked.

 

Francis Fonseca, Minister of Culture (File: Sept 14^th, 2023)

“The police have a difficult job. When you think about the carnival, I saw it on Baymen, people were sitting there for four hours drinking. That is the nature of these things, whether you like it or not, so by the time the carnival rolls around Baymen you have a lot of people who are hyped, to be diplomatic. So, I don’t envy the police that are a difficult task to deal with.”

 

And, after almost a year of deliberation, In June 2024, the second proposed change within a decade went public. Reactions to this new route were a mixed bag.

 

Francis Fonseca, Minister of Culture (File: June 20^th, 2024)

“My understanding is that the new route will be from the Baron Bliss area all the way straight to Marion Jones. So, I think that in my view, I have always supported that. In my view that will be a fantastic route, and I think the Belizean people will enjoy a wonderful carnival.”

 

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police (File: Aug 28^th, 2024)

“Certainly the vendors cannot sell on the street. If they’re parked, if they’re on the, not the sidewalk, but if they’re parked on the edge of the street without hindering the sidewalk, they can stay there. But no vending will be allowed on the sidewalk or the streets.”

Well, the Carnival Road March is back in 2025 and after last year’ s experience, many of those initial concerns appear to have fizzled away. Culture and celebration have once again taken center stage. Public Relations Officer of the Belize Carnival Association, Eugene Trench says the change was needed.

 

Eugene Tench, Public Relations Officer, Belize Carnival Association

“If you look at the way how the city is situated, it is divided by three bridges, it has traditionally began over one area and ended over the next area. At the inception of carnival, it began at Cinderella Plaza and ended at Birds Isle, began at Yabra and ended at Memorial Park. So, they were transversed and since the carnival got bigger, not everybody is into carnival, people have business and the traffic and people moving around, so they said lets have the carnival on Marine Parade, it is a scenic view, we have the beautiful Caribbean Sea, we have that easterly breeze blowing and I think police say for safety we can manage it better.”

Veteran carnival queen and Soca sensation Ernestine Carballo says she’s ready to hit the road again, riding high on the truck and soaking in the vibes along the new route, just like she did in 2024.

 

Ernestine Carballo, Artist

“Instead of have to come all the way from Yabra, come all that straight, over BelChina and gone down and through Baymen, it is one straight smooth lap and the breeze the blow. With the heat you have to stay hydrated guys. Yes I know we done use to the old fashion, but new is good too, change is good too.”

 

This latest route is not only praised for its spacious and scenic view. Bands also celebrate the fact that the road march is now shorter in distance. And the Belize City is on top of ensuring that the route is ready for Saturday.

 

Bernard Wagner, Mayor, Belize City

“That is one of the biggest events in the calendar and so we are prepared as a city. We have the sanitation team, the works team putting together the necessary logistics to have a great time.”

 

Reporting for News Five, I am Paul Lopez