Belize is getting its very own two day International Music and Food Festival. The festival planned for the final days of July is being hailed by the BTB as a platform to build exposure for our local artists while boosting tourism traffic during the industry's slow season.
It's a first of it's kind concert event that has a wide cross section of the music industry very excited. And this morning when our news team stopped by the Biltmore for the launch we got to see all that enthusiasm from performers, the promoter, and even Minister Anthony Mahler:
International Reggae artist Koffee and Soca sensation Patrice Roberts are coming to Belize. And while that's the headline the bigger news is that they're coming for Belize Music Fest, a brand new first of its kind multi-million dollar international music festival, that promises to place Belizean artists at the front and centre of multiple stages.
The announcement was made this morning to an audience of A-list performers including Stig D Artist, Supa G, Yas Thalia, Ernestine Carballo and much more.
And in the days following a global pandemic, the launch of this entertainment juggernaut seems, on paper to be just what's needed to inject some much-needed revenue into a fledgling and long-neglected Belizean music industry.
Stig Da Artist, Artist
"To make the government, to make the Belizean people really support at this point. To make that happen and we see that is happening is the best feeling in the world."
Yas Thalia, Artist
"You know we all want to be out there and I want to remind you guys that it's not just men in this industry, because we women are up there and we will make it."
Participant
"Anthony Mahler to actually creating this event and giving us the opportunity to excel ourselves in our heart and actually "blup" - you done know what we want to do as artist, we want burst outside internationally like everybody else. So big up the people who are doing the event. Big up BTB and big up yourselves Belizean artists."
And unlike music fests of the past Minister Anthony Mahler told us that this time, artists aren't getting paid some arbitrary standard fee, no. They're actually getting the fee they requested.
Still, the announcement of this festival has brought up questions of cost, execution, and even personnel. Questions that the minister who calls the project his brainchild took the time to answer today.
Cherisse Halsall:
"We all know that the artists are going to benefit from this situation as they should after a very tough pandemic but who is this promoter, what is his track record, how much is he making, and why him?"
Hon. Anthony Mahler, Minister of Tourism
"You must, I mean, like John Marsden has been, and he's a partner he's a consultant on this project with us, the promoter he knows the business. He has brought some of the biggest concerts in Belize over time, the Belize tourism board, the government of Belize is investing in this project, nobody else. The government of Belize via the Belize Tourism Board is investing in this event. he is a consultant on the project, that's it."
Cherisse Halsall:
"So, my follow up question sir was there some sort of tendering process for promoters where other people go to compete for this position or was this just handed to him?"
Hon. Anthony Mahler, Minister of Tourism
"Because of Covid we are on a tight timeframe and we had started doing it ourselves in terms of we didn't know the business so we had a tight timeframe and so this time I just went out to ask Mr. Marsden to give us some assistance as a consultant on the project."
And with that consultant in place to execute, the only thing left is getting the message out to a global audience and fan base. Here's how Mahler plans to do that.
Hon. Anthony Mahler, Minister of tourism
"Well, we have to use all aspects of all platforms social media, digital, local media houses, print you name it and we have partners in the United States and in Canada in Europe all over the place for us to push this event."
But what will it cost? At the end of the launch we heard whispers of a $750,000 budget but this is what the minister said on the record.
Hon. Anthony Mahler, Minister of tourism
"We are working out the numbers right now but we believe that any event like this can be in the millions but we will look at it. We are looking at it right now and we'll be able to provide that information for you."
BTB is fronting public money - so that is no minor detail.
But, for the artists in attendance, those details didn't matter much - they seemed both excited and content this morning, even if there was a bit of a current event elephant in the room. We posed that question to veteran songstress Ernestine Carballo.
Cherisse Halsall:
"I understand that it's not every minister that support this new trade license act, it's not every minister, however, it could be argued that there is a smokescreen going on here today where on the one hand the government is giving you this very heavy tax on each of your gigs and on the other hand this event signing a contract. Do you feel that the government of Belize is simultaneously cutting off a large part of your revenue and then feeding you crumbs?"
Ernestine Carballo, Artist
"Because it's about this event, I choose not to really stress about that, but you will hear from me, because today is a special day for us as well. I couldn't make it to Belmopan, but I'm sure a lot of artists are going to be there right to discuss the whole thing and where we can weigh the cons and the pros, because everything is communication - overstanding, understanding and trying to bring up some type of agreement. So I mean we are Belizean and I am sure that everybody can come together and formalize something that is rational and to everyone across the board because you have different ranges of artists. You know, so it's a whole other conversation, but I'm more than willing to be on the front so if you want to pull me in you can pull me in on the talk show and mek we talk."
And the conversation continues because while the artists and the PUP celebrate, the opposition is following the money.
In a release today they call for full disclosure on the million-dollar concert's budget saying quote: "...We have received reports that the bill to taxpayers for this hurriedly planned and cleverly named "International Food and Music Festival"…will be somewhere around $1 million, with Belizean artists getting less than five (5) per cent of that amount." End quote
They go on to reject the allocation of funds to pay foreign artists at a time when they say that G.O.B's Trade licence Act of 2022 is quote "Unconscionable."
Additional demands in the release include calls for quotes: "...Every penny spent from taxpayers goes towards the budget for Belizean entertainers." And that quote: "...the concert be free for Belizeans to enter since we are paying the bill."
The release ends by calling for an investigation into the allocation of public funds designated for the event that the opposition calls a quote: "hurry come up."
