All those accomplishments are going to be celebrated tomorrow at the the fifth annual Toledo Cacao Fest. It is a two day festival which opens with a wine and chocolate evening tomorrow. And then on Saturday the taste of Toledo Event takes place with a variety of cookery and chocolate demonstrations. Today Lisel Alamilla, Chair of the Cocoa Fest Committee, stopped by our studios to tell us more about the event.

Lisel Alamilla, Chair of the Cocoa Fest Committee
"This is the 5th annual Cacao Fest and we have a weekend full of activities. It starts with wine and chocolate on Friday at Coral House and Saturday we have full day activities around Punta Gorda Town including a triathlon that starts officially at 11 o' clock by Texaco gas station and you can explore Punta Gorda Town, there are lots of foods and drinks, music. It's really trying to get people into the community and also if you are interested you can do half day tours snorkeling or going on the Cacao trails. The Cacao is grown in Toledo District and we have four chocolatiers in the country of Belize who are producing high quality chocolates, all of is sold locally. Cacao, Gauss, Cotton Tree and Serellas - the four brands that are sold here in Belize."

"The festivals have been very good and it keeps growing every year and I know a lot of people who have been returning because they had such a good time and this year on Sunday we are continuing to have our activities at Lubaantun and we are having the Quintana Roo Folkloric Group doing a performance in the plaza and a finale concert with the Pantempers and the Panaferic Steel pan. The setting is really spectacular, so it's an event that anyone can participate in. You can bring your entire family and its really low cost - its $10 for adults and $2 for children."

If you are looking for hotel accommodations for this weekend, you can call the BTIA office in Punta Gorda for assistance.