Belize’s Biggest Gathering: The 2014 National Agriculture & Trade Show – Part One
Who doesn’t love a good fair? The food, the animals, the rides…
(With some strange color setting on my new camera. Fiddling with this camera while on this FAST moving ride was a bad idea…but that’s for later.)
The Belmopan Agriculture fair is huge. And supposedly over 50,000 Belizeans roll into town for the two day event. Since I had attended once before (posts below), I knew I was going to make it only one day. It’s so hot, so crowded, so fun but EXHAUSTING. So I got there early…
I arrived at about 9:45am on Saturday, the first real day of the show. The line was long already and charter buses and cars were unloading all along the road into Belmopan.
We moved along surprisingly quickly. $5bzd, a wristband and I was in.
The map gives some idea of how large this is. From farm animals to dirt bikes to ferris wheels.
My taxi driver in San Pedro, the one who drove me to the water taxi, told me that you could buy a REAL duck at the show and win $1 million.
(Photo taken a few days ago at the Belize Bird Rescue in Belmopan – more on that later too.)
Luckily, I ran into this set-up quickly. Hard to miss really…
It’s real. $1 million dollars from the Belize Rotarians part, NOT the real duck. (The race even has a Facebook page.)
Here’s the deal. You buy a rubber duck for $10bzd. On a specificed date in November, the duckies will be dropped from the San Ignacio bridge. The first duck to reach the finish line, it’s owner will win $10,000. Here is the winning ticket. I bought 3.
And then the winner…if it is some special duck (I didn’t quite get the gist of it), then you win ONE. MILLION. belize. DOLLARS. Awesome. I might have to make it over to San Ignacio for this event.
Let me just run through some of my pictures…I took quite a few. Here is the show.
Ladies dressed like this were promoting all sorts of stuff – from beer to cell phones. These two are somehow oil related and they wanted to chat with me about a “grease mutilating” product. Huh.
The citrus growers showing off their…citrus. But why can’t we get these in Belize? Look at that pretty pink grapefruit.
Marie Sharp and her crew were one of the many Belizean products representing.
And one of my very favorite booths. Running W and their DELICIOUS pork sausages.
The huge grills were all going. I had one spicy Italian for breakfast promising to be back for more.
SIlly gambling games seemed to be very popular with the adults. SO clearly a set up. Planted guys coming in…better $100…losing…smacking their foreheads groaned AHHHH Dios Mio. I mean PUH LEEZE.
Shells games?
Ring tosses.
Lots and lots of games and rides.
I’ll be back for you later too.
Some of these rides are SUPER scary. The rickety machinery, the teens operating them and the speed. I HAVE to get on the ferris wheel. It’s $6bzd of super scary good times. And you absolutely can not beat the view.
LOOK AT THIS!?!
Best not to look too close at the inner workings…
We loaded slowly and I enjoyed everything about it.
The view to the west over the rides and the dirt bike track.
And then we were full and we REALLY got moving. Ripping at top speed forward…my stomach being thrown around the wheel…and then backwards…kids crying, everyone screaming, my insides…well…
Let’s just say that I needed to get off quickly. Code Red style.
Thanks so much buddy. Good good times.
And fear not, a bag of greeezzzzy popcorn and I was back on track.
Food to sample, people to meet, a rodeo to attend…time to get moving.
Until tomorrow…
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