3-14-2020 Hopkins Kite Festival & The Garifuna Collective Concert

We always love going to the Hopkins Kite Festival. The kites entered into the competition are all supposed to be homemade.
Some people make their kites beforehand, while others make their kites in the morning at the event.

There were lots of kites being flown all day long by children and adults.

We also spent time hanging out with friends. Our friend Pam (at right) made this colorful triangular kite from straws, string
and a broken umbrella. It flew well and she won first place in the adult competition. It looked store bought while it was
flying, so she had to bring it down for the judges to verify that it was indeed homemade.

After naps and dinner we went to an all night concert at Miss Tracey's Guest House, which is the guest house, music studio
and concert venue run by our friends Trevor and Tracey. The first band was Trevor's band called Zero Tolerance - we failed
to get a photo of them. Here is the main attraction, The Garifuna Collective, who is known and tours internationally. They
played twice that evening - early for the elders who couldn't stay late, and again at about 3 am. If you have never heard them,
look them up - they are awesome!

Next was the World Culture Band, which was started by a local musician who had traveled the world and assembled this
band along the way. They were really nice.

It was a smaller crowd than normal because the Covid-19 scare was just hitting Belize, and that kept a lot of people away.

Those who did come out all had a great time.

A band from the Cayo District called Mile 41 played nice reggae music. We enjoyed all the music, and we lasted until about
3:30 or 4 am and then had to call it quits. This was basically the last event we were able to go to before social distancing
began for everyone.

3-22-2019 The Garifuna Collective Concert

Zero Tolerance and C-Wills started off this concert night right. Mohobub Flores also played as a special guest, but we failed
to get a picture of that.

At about 10pm the Garifuna Collective began their performance. Mohobub played the turtle shells (at far left) because he is
also a member of the band.

There was a nice crowd, and the venue was awesome. Trevor and Tracey have made a lovely spot for music performances at
Miss Tracey's Guest House.

The last time we saw The Garifuna Collective was at last year's Parranda Fest, which, most unfortunately, is not happening
this year. The Garifuna Collective (from nearby Dangriga) has been touring internationally, so it was a treat to see them
perform on their home turf. There are lots of members in the group, and not all were able to make it, but it was still an
incredible performance.

We did manage to get a video of The Garifuna Collective playing their song "Mongulu":

1-7-2017 Birthday party and music

Shannon is the owner of a great local restaurant called Luba Laruga.  He had a big party planned and it was shaping up to be a great time then a HUGE rainstorm hit with horizontal rains.  Luba Laruga is located right on the beach so we had to move on.

Shannon is a great guy and if you come to Hopkins be sure to eat seafood at Luba Laruga

Terry divides his time between Belize and Canada.  Lee on the right owns Jalapenos Bar where the music was playing

There was a packed crowd that night and the crowd ended up drinking them out of beer

Lee has built a nice kitchen and he specializes in smoked meat like ribs, brisket, pulled pork, etc.

Here is a video of Zero Tolerance.  If you are new to youtube and the quality of the video is not very good then that is because you need to click on settings then pick a high resolution then pause and let it buffer for a minute or two.