Pretty much everywhere in the world, except Belize, Carnival is held on the last day before the beginning of Lent. The concept is that revelers let loose before the spiritual austerity of the Lenten season which started today. Of course, in Belize, our carnival is traditionally held in September to coincide with our national celebrations. That is everywhere in Belize except San Pedro, where the Tuesday before Lent is time for carnival and bacchanal. Our associate with the San Pedro Sun, Ron Sniffin tells us how it went this year.
Ron Sniffin Reporting, From the [San Pedro Sun]
For three days, Sunday through Tuesday, San Pedro has been going wild with Carnival. The children enjoy the opportunity to douse each other with paint and eggs.
Ron Sniffin: How was it?
Francisco Mendez: Really good.
Ron Sniffin: Did you wanna get hit like that?
Francisco Mendez: Yeah.
Ron Sniffin: Is it fun?
Francisco Mendez: Yeah.
Ron Sniffin: What you doing here today?
Felix Ayuso: We're painting, it's a tradition, its carnival.
Ron Sniffin: You have a lot of paint on your face how does it feel?
Felix Ayuso: Sticky.
Ron Sniffin: So are you just beginning or are you going to rap up?
Felix Ayuso: No we just beginning, this is until midnight tonight.
"What we do every year is a group of organizations or schools get together and they paint a different ethnic group or character or something that is in style for people to know about or to relay about."
Louis Caliz,
"We were depicting an American guy who wanted to go fishing. He couldn't go fishing because his net was tied; wrapped up."
Gerardo Reyes, Lyons Club
"We are trying to maintain the tradition alive. The three main themes we had for this year on Sunday we had the Rancheros, on Monday we had the Cubans, and today we had the Toreros which are the three eldest and most traditional themes that we had for many generations to past. This is one of the oldest traditions on the island and I hope that everybody enjoys it, both young and old."
As the sun sets in San Pedro, so will another Carnival in a few hours. From San Pedro for the San Pedro Sun. Ron Sniffin, News, Channel 7.
And to go with the revelry there was one act of violence as an 18 year old was stabbed by a 16 year old when he was getting "painted."
7NEWS produced for broadcast by News Director Jules Vasquez
Edited for the internet by Keith Swift