Event Calendar

The Toledo Chocolate Festival of Belize is a unique blend of southern Belize nature, adventure, and culture! Cocoa has played a dominant role from ancient times, when the Maya first discovered the ‘magical’ process that transformed cacao into chocolate, right through to the modern day. The Toledo District of southern Belize is home to the organic cacao orchards where the pods are grown, harvested and processed, and later transformed into chocolate.

The Chocolate Festival works hard to raise awareness of the Toledo District, its unique cultural and environmental diversity, promote sustainable tourism throughout the District, and extend the tourist season for the benefit of the entire community.

Every Commonwealth Day Holiday Weekend (late May) Belize celebrates this marvelous food, and many devoted followers return to Toledo each year to find out what’s new in the world of chocolate making. This will be the 12th year the Festival will be growing awareness of Belizean chocolate, and continue to capture a wider international audience.

Join us for a three-day celebration of Belizean chocolate and the cacao-driven culture of the Toledo District. Use the links on the left to learn more about the Festival. Packed with activities for the young and old alike, Cacao Fest pays tribute of the organic Cacao farmers and Belizean Chocolatiers and is a celebration of cacao, culture and the rich flavors of the Toledo District. The dates for this year’s event are the 18th- 20th May 2018.

Friday,May 18, 2018 – 10pm – 4am

This year’s Chocolate Festival of Belize kicks off on Friday, May 18 with a grand dance featuring the X-BAND at the Punta Gorda Civic Center hosted by the Punta Gorda Town Council! They will also be performing at the Taste of #Toledo Street Fair the following day!

Saturday, May 19 – 9am – 5pm
The Taste of Toledo Street Fair is held on Front Street in Punta Gorda Town, from the Uno gas station all the way to the Punta Gorda library. The pedstrian-only street fair features cultural displays and areas showcasing Toledo’s five main ethnic groups: Kriol, Maya, Garifuna, Mestizo and East Indian. Each area displays art, food and music from their culture; it is like going from a Maya town to a Garifuna town in just a few steps.

Barbecued food, chocolate making, kayak trips, chocolate farm trips, there’s something for everyone. Taste exciting new chocolate flavors, buy local food, crafts and relax with a cold beer while enjoying live music on stage outside the court building.

As you’d expect at a chocolate festival, each booth has some connection with chocolate or cacao, from chocolate soaps to hand-carved wooden masks depicting cacao. The Belize chocolatiers will also be on hand to talk about chocolate and provide an opportunity for you to buy their many and varied creations.

As always, children can get involved with the Chocolate Festival through our Cacao for Kids activities, leaving parents free to enjoy the street fair whilst knowing that their children are in a safe, supervised environment. Event from 9am – 5pm.

Cacao for Kids activities include:
*face painting
*finger painting
*jewelry making
*games

Wine and Chocolate Event- 7pm

This year’s WINE & CHOCOLATE event promises to be another spectacular night to remember, featuring exotic & decadent chocolate foods & desserts like you’ve never seen before! Come experience it! Saturday, May 19th starting at 7pm at Garbutt’s Marine featuring Pandemonium Steel Orchestra!

Sunday, May 20 – 10am -5pm

The Chocolate Festival finale always take place on the Sunday at 10:00 am to 5pm, it will be held at the Nim Li Punit Temple Grounds, located 45 minutes inland from Punta Gorda Town. There are live performances throughout the day, this will feature musical performances from Mayan harp groups, Marimba and as well as the Ancient Maya Ball Game (Pok ta Pok) played by the Maya Team from Yo Creek, Orange Walk District. There are always a range of drinks made from cacao combined with corn or pepper and other ingredients and food stalls that offers ethnic Mayan dishes.

Local crafts from hammocks and tie-tie baskets to slate and calabash carvings will be on sale and visitors will have the chance to try their own hand at craft making and appreciate the skill that goes into their creation.

During this free, two-day festival, Mango Fest attendees enjoy mango-themed food offerings as well as non-mango dishes, browse locally made arts and crafts, while hearing the musical talent of Hopkins as well as other talented artists from around Belize and the world.

The Hopkins Mango Fest committe’s (HMF) goal is to promote Hopkins as a tourist destination in a fashion that builds on Hopkins uniqueness and promotes cultural preservation. This is done by featuring authentic Garifuna food and music through a clean, wholesome, culinary and culturally fun festival. It also provides economic opportunities during a time that has traditionally been referred to as “maga season” or thin season.

FOOD:
Hopkins is a blessed with an abundance of good food and is quickly becoming a culinary destination as there are about two dozen restaurants in our village of 2,500. Hopkins also has many “fast food” places that sell panades, street tacos, conch fritters, tamales, pastries, and other unique food items. The festival has a fusion of foods from all the cultures in Belize—Garifuna, Creole, Caribbean, European, and North American influences. Be prepared to sample such delights as mango chimole, chicken kebabs with mango salsa, ceviche, mango chutney, mango smoothies. There will also be many other non-mango food items such as the national dish of Belize-stew chicken, rice and beans, pizza, tacos, hamburgers, sausage on a stick, and much more!

MUSIC:
The Mango Fest Committee plans on featuring live music throughout the day that showcases the best of Belize and of Hopkins. Did you know three of the five members of the Garifuna Collective are from Hopkins? Plan on hearing Paranda music (Belize’s version of the blues,) Caribbean rhythms, Ray-gay, and much more. Check the Mango Fest Facebook Page regularly to see as the acts are confirmed for the festival.

ACTIVITIES:
Mango Fest Saturday, June 2:
6am – Floyd Arana Fishing & Tours hosts a dory fishing contest.

10am – Jungle Jeanie’s by the Sea hosts a yoga session for all ages and skill levels. Come stretch to the music of ocean waves.

2pm – Miss Bertie’s Hopkins Community Library is hosting children’s’ story hour.

3pm – Dory fishing contest, weigh in.

Mango Fest Sunday, June 3:
10am – Jungle Jeanie’s by the Sea hosts a yoga session for all ages and skill levels. Come stretch to the music of ocean waves.

Related Link: Eat as Many Mangoes as I Could at Hopkins Mango Fest

Placencia Btia and Placencia Village Council is once again in the process of planning The 21st Annual Placencia Lobster Fest 2019. Like every year a Grand Lobster Fest Raffle is held and drawn on the last day of the event which will be on Sunday 23rd of June this year. For more info about the Placencia Lobster Fest or how to donate a prize to the raffle please feel free to contact us at 523-4045 or send us an email to info@placencia.com.

The event is organized by the Placencia BTIA and the Placencia Village Council and has long been a traditional mainstay of Placencia’s economy.

One of the most exciting festivals of the year takes place every June on the beautiful Placencia Peninsula in southeastern Belize. Timed to coincide with the official opening of fishing season, Lobsterfest is a popular celebration of everything and anything related to lobster.

In 2019, the Placencia Lobsterfest will be held between June 21-23 and will feature dozens of savory and interesting dishes made from the world’s most popular crustacean. Although classic recipes like grilled lobster served with melted butter will be on hand, there will be dozens of other varieties on offer during Lobsterfest, including lobster ceviche, lobster pizza, lobster spring rolls, lobster pies, lobster fajitas, and upscale gourmet dishes worthy of a five-star restaurant.

Eating and enjoying lobster may be the principle draw for this popular festival that regularly draws hundreds of attendees, but there are plenty of other exciting activities as well. More than 50 booths will be set up to serve cold drinks, other kinds of seafood, sell artwork, handicrafts, games, and face painting for kids of all ages. And everyone will be dancing thanks to plenty of live acts performing a variety of musical styles.