Placencia Sidewalk Arts and Music Festival 2014

The view from our anchorage at Sapadilla Lagoon. The mountains look much larger in reality.

From this idylic anchorage we moved down to Placencia, one of the largest communities in the south of Belize. The Placencia Sidewalk Art and Music Festival is over Valentine's Weekend and something is going on from 11am to 4am. We enjoyed the art, music and food, capped by Fire Dancers at sundown. Hopefully we'll manage to get our video up on the blog. Lots of photos here to get a flavor of the festival.

Who doesn't love sweets and it's Valentine's Day!

Jewelry is the most common craft around here - of all kinds

The sidewalk on the right stretches for a mile through the
village and predates the road.

Homes and small businesses line the sidewalk

These bake sales often are run to support non profits in
the area

Artists came from all over Belize to participate

Guatemalan or Mayan embroidery and textiles are a popular
item for sale all the time.

Slogans line the sidewalk in spots of all sorts

Wooden carving and bowls are another popular craft

Most of the artists paint the local life, people and
wildlife in Belize.

Our lunch being prepared - local sausages barbecued
on tortillas with a fresh salsa

The lovely white beach stretches out next to the sidewalk
and then goes on for miles afterwards.

Looking the other direction

The children of the Placencia sailing club take turns on the
sailing dinghies.

A section of the wall at the Tipsy Tuna

And the outdoor area of the bar/restaurant

We loved this Garifuna drumming group

The Garifunas are descendents of escaped
or relocated freed slaves from all over the
Caribbean that settled on the coasts of
Belize, Guatemala and Honduras.

Close up of the lead drummer

There were lots of kids at the festival and the school
children sold their paintings to benefit the local school.
Scott was the high bidder on one of them.

I bought a pair of these - nice

This fellow was a great salesmen.

There were over 20 tents set up along the sidewalk for
artists, food vendors, musicians and just lime in'

There were lots of painting to choose from...

Something for everyone - except those who are living on
boats or I imagine tourists that have to fly home.