Corozal Comes Alive

With Easter just around the corner, the local schools are now out on spring break for two weeks. On Friday, the last day before the break, the pre-schools throughout the Corozal district put on a parade that went down the main street, almost to the end of town, then they turned around and paraded down the seaside. Almost a quarter mile of kids all dressed up in costume, some walking, others towed on floats. All of them just as cute as can be.






Each school had a theme, such as The Three Little Pigs, Aladdin, Alice in Wonderland, Fairyland, etc. And with no place here in town to buy pre-made costumes, each costume was custom made, by hand. Some were simple costumes and others looked like they just came off a movie set.







The parade route was packed as people lined the street to watch the childen go by. I never realized how many pre-schools there were in Corozal and the surrounding communities. I had heard that half the population of Belize is under eighteen.






The parents walking with their kids proudly showing off their costumes. Cute costumes and kids.















I guess tying all the kids together is one way to keep them all going in the same direction. Maybe they should do it to the parents also. A lot of parents stopped to socialize, so it made the parade go a little slower. And as hot as it was that day, they really needed to keep the kids moving. They still had a long way to go from where we were watching.







On Saturday, there was going to be a Battle of the Bands, and school marching bands from all over the country were here to compete. Part of the competion was marching through town and then down by the seaside then back to the stadium where the competion continued.





Town was all cleaned up and new paint was everywhere. It was time for the mayor to showcase the town. It was the first time Corozal had hosted the event and town was hoppin'. People everywhere. The stadium was packed, the local beaches were packed and the local bars and eateries all were full. It was a good day in Corozal. I wanted to see the competion, but didn't really want to watch it in the hot sun. So I did the next best thing. I went to see Rocky at Jam Rock, suck down a few cold Belikins and watch the battle all on TV. They televised the whole competion. A nice little breeze from the ocean to cool things down. The perfect place to be.