2022 San Pedro Lobsterfest Block Party Moves To A Bigger Location For a Bigger Bash

Saturday evening, after a full week of lobster parties and bar crawls, live music, and lots and lots of emptied buttery lobster shells, everyone headed to Saca Chispas (also called “The Old Football Field”) on the back side of San Pedro town to celebrate with the big San Pedro Lobsterfest Block Party.

It’s tradition!  San Pedro, Belize held her very first lobster festival in 2007.  And here is the first one that I wrote about – I had started my blog just a few weeks before in 2011.  Each year, it gets bigger…with more booths and lots more visitors.  And then we had two years with no block parties…you all know why.  But it is back!  The location moved from Front Street and Central Park to the large space on Back Street…and here are my pictures from last night.

A note:  I went very early – even before the event started to get pictures.  And I only stayed for about half an hour.  Because…I have a black eye.  Seriously!  I was looking for this (jokingly) during the day.

Is there anything you can’t find on the internet!?

All from a mosquito bite.  Odd because I’ve gotten hundreds, thousands, over the years and they don’t even swell up or itch anymore on me.  But apparently, this one picked exactly the right spot because, at one point, the area above and to the side of my eye was a big blister…and then settled into a very attractive black eye.  Bottom line:  I wasn’t in the mood for a party!

Picture below.

But this is a great party…so I got moving.  Here we go.

Estels setting up…

A fun fishing game for the kiddies…

People were just starting to flow in the front gate – it was free to enter.  But you needed a bit of paperwork!  Voting cards for the best lobster dishes.

Judging all the dishes sounds like a dream come true but…man…it is HARD.

I consider myself a retired judge (when a dish tastes great, I can’t just have one bite!  I don’t have the willpower).  Read:  San Pedro Lobsterfest 2018 or Eating 16 Different Dishes & Calling It An Early Night

Gives me indigestion just thinking about it.

Onward!

Black and White Garifuna Restaurant were doing lobster hudut.  I bet it was amazing.  If I was staying longer, that is what I would have eaten first.

Hudut is a traditional Garifuna dish.  Fish or seafood, sometimes with pig tail, in a coconut broth with green plantains and…mmmm.  Sooo good.

Good looking crew from Blue Water Grill.

The crew from Nauticrab…

I forgot all about their lobster dishes when I saw the “red-neck Margarita machine” being filled.  An old-school drinks cooler (remember when you used to drink McDonald’s orange aid from these?), some tubing, and a (clean) garbage disposal mechanism grinding at the bottom.

Voile.  Icy margaritas.  Great idea.

Onto Anglers’ Restaurant.  Where I talked to owner Giovanni about these cool pseudo-neon signs…

How great does this look?

They also had lobsters on ice.

And then…my favorite part…the live music.  But more specifically, the Panerifix Steel Drum Band.  Most teens – playing popular songs.  They are based in Belmopan, Belize and they are soooo great.  I can’t think of more festive music.

And then…I snuck out!  Terrible but true.  There is something about looking like Shrek that makes you feel like being home…

This morning – no swelling just the bruise.  Thanks, Jeff for the photography.  A mosquito!  (I’m sticking to that…because if you check Google, you can really tumble down an awful rabbit hole of spiders…and necrotic infections and brown recluses…and…it gets very ugly very fast)

Back to the party:  It would be another hour or less when this whole area was packed with people.  Eating, drinking and dancing.

Here is a photo from later in the evening…taken by Panerrifix themselves…so great.

And then Gilharry 7 took the show late night with lots of great music…

I love that they travel with this bus (it comes to the cayes on a barge) – I snuck up to take a picture and a bunch of the band was relaxing in there.

I hope everyone had an amazing time and is inspired to get down here next year.  Lobster season is open from July 1st to February 28th.  Enjoy!