7 News Belize

Art In the Street
posted (February 22, 2013)
It's the third year for the annual Street Art Festival and according to organizers, there will be new surprises for those art lovers. On Saturday afternoon downtown Albert Street will be lined with booths showcasing live art, fashion and a wide selection of entertainment. The festival was created to build a national forum for artists and offers artists the opportunity to showcase their talent and artwork to a crowd. We caught up with the team at NICH who told us what families can expect tomorrow.

Karen Vernon
"The Street Art Festival 2013 takes places this Saturday on Albert Street as usual. It starts from 2pm to 10pm and it starts at the junction with Belize Bank and it goes all the way down Albert Street to where Doony's is. This year we will be featuring the vendor's booth as usual artist promoting our local artist. We have a food court on Treasury Lane; we have a kid's zone which will be very interesting this year with puppets. We have a fashion street which is new. We will be having different designers displaying what they do in clothing and jewelry and we will have a runway on that street featuring different fashion show throughout the day. We have a youth stage where youths will be featuring; they have competition and entertainment on that stage from 2-8pm. It's quite exciting. Also on the youth stage there will be a flash which is new and exciting for us this year."

Monica Bodden
"Tell us how successful has this festival been?"

Karen Vernon
"It has been very successful because over the years we have had to add on to what we already have. The booths have been extended; people have been calling for booths. Right now we are out of space. I know that next year already we maybe have to go down another street, so it has been very successful."

Joseph Stamp Romero
"I am responsible for the youth stage and the theme is "It's your art express it." It's to encourage young people to come out and express themselves artistically. Of course there are some guidelines but we really want to see what they are doing artistically and what they have to offer in terms of adding to artistic industry."

Monica Bodden
"How does that work? You just show up and you sign up to do your thing?"

Joseph Stamp Romero
"There is a process you have to go through actually, you can come at the Bliss or call me and I can sign you up. Also on Saturday there will be some walk-ins. As long as they do that long before - an hour before that segment starts. We have for example the rap off, sing off competition and so they can sign up for those on the day of the event providing that they have the equipment that they need their CDs and what not. There is also the anticipating flash mob; we have a secret element that we add into to it which will make it a little more Belizean - that's also something that they can look forward to. There is a launch of arts project which is something that will be under my desk which is basically young people showcasing their talent around the city. We have for that particular project - we have what we called the 3-5 squad. The squad main job would be to entertain young Belizeans like themselves from 3-5pm on Saturday on a monthly basis."

Kim Vasquez
"I am in charge of the area called the kids zone and that's the area of course that has all the kiddies stuff - the trampoline, bouncy house, face painting, cotton candy and popcorn, but there is also something extra special within the kids zone that's called the kids art world and that have an interactive art appreciation activity for the children. They are going to get to experience some musical instruments, tried them out if they never tried them before - if they ever wanted to experience playing a steel pan - they can come and try it. The instructors will be there to guide them. There is going to be the violin and the flute and we will have the Belize Dance Company facilitating as well for some creole folk dance, so they come and try a few creole dance steps. They get to paint with the visual artist Gayla Fuller and then they have a puppet theater activity - they get to make their own puppet with Delbert Quilter and then we finish up with a puppet show featuring some new characters that we develop here in the programs' office."

It officially opens at 2:00 in the afternoon and the festival goes right up to 10:00 at night.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cl8-0qZpA5c&feature=youtu.be

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