Creative Youth Summit Highlights Belizean Music and Culture

The House of Culture in Belize City was the stage today for the annual Belize Creative Youth Ideas Summit. Unlike the month’s festive events, this summit takes a reflective approach, giving young people a platform to share their views on national issues. In past years, the focus has been on topics like crime and mental health. This year, the spotlight turned to Belizean music.

 

Zenida Lanza, Reporting

How often do you think about Belizean music? That was the starting point for today’s discussion at the Belize Creative Youth Ideas Summit. Panelists explored music as a reflection of our roots and identity. From Garifuna drumming to brukdown, Belizean music carries the stories of our ancestors. It is history, culture, and pride. Young Belizeans were invited to share how we can protect, celebrate, and pass on these traditions so they remain strong for future generations.

 

Kevin Chen, Communications Officer, Foreign Affairs

“Our history, our roots, heritage with music, but also we’re looking at the future of music. And it’s best that young people are part of this discussion because they really are the future of music, the future of our country, and they’re the future of music…I think music plays a vital role in tourism, in cultural preservation. Music is really part of the fabric of Belizean society.”

 

Ten panelists took part, including members of the Belize Music Project and academics from Galen University, St. John’s College Junior College, and other institutions that joined virtually.

 

Seth Cambranes, Panelist, Belize Music Project

“It’s a lot of ideas that people could hopefully see and want to reach out to whoever to go ahead and push the sound, push the future of music in Belize. Not only just the music, but as well as what the country can offer. Like what they were speaking over just now, they segued into it from what we were talking about, which was stuff like carnival and events and things like that. That Belize could go ahead and, that the government as well as the community could go ahead and push forward to put Belize on the world stage.”

So, what does the future of Belizean music look like?

 

Kevin Chen

“They’re coming up with some pretty good ideas. They’re looking at Spotify. They’re looking at YouTube, Apple Music, looking to ingrain Belizean music in these digital platforms that are emerging and continue to evolve from day-to-day. But they’re also looking at the non-traditional avenues of social media, promoting more their music on social media, on traditional media, etcetera.”

 

This year’s focus was “Belizean music: our roots and the future”, which reminds us that music carries the stories of yesterday while inspiring new creations, and today’s youth are keeping traditions alive while imagining what comes next. Reporting for News Five, I’m Zenida Lanza.