The Marion Jones Sporting Complex may still be under construction but that does not mean the annual Bandfest Competition will be put on hold. In fact the committee has taken the show on the road and into the Orange Walk District where it will be held at the People’s Stadium on Saturday April twenty sixth.
When the event kicked off two years ago it was not only to promote marching bands but offer something positive to primary school students. According to Bandfest Committee member and spokesperson Julia Carillo-Jones this year the competition has been divided into two categories, the drum corps and the wind instruments. She says while the number of entries for 2008 is not overwhelming, the bands have been preparing and the show promise show promises to be great.
Julia Carillo-Jones, Bandfest Committee
“It has become really popular. The following now compared to when it started has been really amazing. The excitement, the level of excitement is so much more now. The competition has gotten so much more fierce. So that could tell you in itself how good it has become over the years. We still have a lot more to go.
This year we have ten local bands competing, we also have three show bands, two local and one from El Salvador.
One of the problems that we have been hearing is that they don’t have funding, uniforms are not as updated as they should be, that sort of stuff – the kids are not really, those that graduate, there is not new integration into band. So all of that we want to deal with after Bandfest so that next year we can have more schools taking part in the competition.”
The marching bands come from the Corozal, Orange Walk, Cayo and Belize Districts. They will be judged on how well the bands have prepared for the competition, talent, professionalism, showmanship, audience appeal and team effort. Bandfest 2008 will be held under the patronage of Governor General Sir Colville Young. Prior to the event the marching bands will parade through the streets of Orange Walk Town and then at one thirty in the afternoon the competition begins.
