Get in touch with Garifuna culture
Visitors visiting Belize can dance to the beats of the Garifuna people at the Lebeha drumming facility near Hopkins. The Garifuna came in Belize in the 1800s after escaping servitude and shipwreck in the Caribbean; they intermarried with the Arawak people of St. Vincent, then fled to Belize to avoid persecution. Garifuna Settlement Day, November 19, is a celebration of that event, including cuisine, dance, and drumming, all of which are important parts of Garifuna tradition.
This is a typical picture on Garifuna Settlement Day, which takes place on November 19, when costumed revelers in tiny communities around southern Belize reenact the arrival of the Garifuna people 218 years ago. When two canoes approach on the horizon, they are full of Garifuna men and women draped in cassava leaves and holding sugarcane stalks. They disembark to tremendous acclaim, followed by a flag-waving parade through the streets. The march concludes in a Catholic church, where people attend a Garifuna-language liturgy.
Today, an estimated 17,000 Garifuna, or Garinagu, live in Belize, accounting for only 6% of the population. Despite the parade hoopla and a UNESCO statement naming the Garifuna language, dance, and music masterpieces of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2001, the culture is in grave danger. Some ambassadors feel tourism can help conserve the environment. Though Settlement Day occurs every year, here are some more ways to immerse yourself in all things Garifuna during a vacation to Belize at any time of year.
