When you meet Uwahnie Martinez, there is certainly something very special about her. Besides the fact that she has the most amazing smile that can light up an entire room, she is also incredibly passionate about her heritage and culture, this passion is infectious and within minutes of meeting her, you too will be excited about the Garifuna Culture. Born in Punta Gorda where she grew up until the age of eight, she spent 1 year in Belmopan until she eventually moved to her home, right here in Hopkins Village. Uwahnie is a very talented young lady who not only runs a successful Cultural Immersion Tour, amongst other things but she is also the organizer of the Hopkins International Parranda Festival.
The first Parranda Fest was on Holy Saturday in 2009 and she has just successfully organized the 3rd annual Parranda Festival which was held at Palmetto Grove on Saturday the 26th of March 2016. It was a great success and we had a fantastic time, and we just had to ask her how she came up with the idea for this event. “As a sociocultural entrepreneur that enjoys coming up with innovative ideas that would improve the economic outlook of my indigenous people, as it relates to benefiting from the tourism industry happening around us, I looked at some of the cultural assets that we as Garinagu had and music was one of them. As an individual I believe that anything one does must be done to the best of your ability and as such the idea of Hopkins International Parranda Fest was born to be the event that will give many musicians the opportunity to showcase their musical artwork”.
For those of you who don’t know, Parranda is a soulful and inspirational genre of music that is ideal for serenading. Parranda comes from two Spanish words that mean ‘a spree or fété’ and parar meaning ‘to stop’. This is what Garifuna artists do with their Berusu lyrics. As in most Garifuna songs, the themes of the Berusu relates to one’s own experience or what they see happening around as it relates to daily struggles, love, child rearing, death and wisdom.
Uwahnie organizes this event to bring people together, to enjoy the music and to connect artists from all overthe world. But probably the biggest reason is to preserve the Garifuna Culture; she says “honouring our past and current musicians in developing a unique and sustainable cultural tourism festival, and giving visitors to Hopkins Belize a high quality and meaningful event to enjoy during the Easter/Spring Break time is my objective.” In doing so she would like to establish partnerships with stakeholders, cultural bearers in the country and industry partners to advance the meaningful involvement of indigenous people and locals in Belize tourism industry.
The event is designed to be the primary fundraiser in support of the annual Belize Cultural Adventure Summer Camp for youths, which is interested in fostering their knowledge and practical skills in Belizean Culture.
One of this year’s highlights was definitely the celebration of the eldest Parrandero alive, Mr Marcelino Fernandez, who is the brother to one of Belize’s most famous drummer, Machete. Mr Fernandez was born in Belize, at the age of 8yrs old he moved to Honduras, he came back to Belize for 2yrs when he was 21yrs old and has since been living in Honduras. Another highlight was the Libayan Marasa as guest artists, alongside many other well known Garifuna musicians from the Diaspora including James Lovell, Ideal Castillo and Guwei (Paul Augustine). As a part of promoting women in music this year, a special feature were the women presentations featuring Irene Rubio, Deserie Diego, Chela Torres, Jackie Castillo and Haddi Arzu.
Uwahnie’s favourite part of the event is to see people embrace the spirit of unification, “I love the opportunity to share a wider prospect and an innovative approach to the music business with my brothers and sisters, one that will allow for economic sustainability.”
Her message to the youths of today is to invest time in getting to know who you are as a person and to embrace it. “Ensure that whatever you take on in life you give it your absolute best. Believe that you can accomplish anything, know that you are uniquely valuable and by embracing your culture it is a part of making you whole. Be willing to put in the necessary work and sacrifice to achieve what you want and most importantly give of yourself by staying engage in your community.”
It doesn’t matter whether you can dance or not, it is physically impossible to not shake your booty – the music, singing, drumming, people and electrifying energy was just too enchanting.
By 1am the party was in full swing and didn’t stop until 7am – so if you plan to attend next years Parranda Festival, you better come prepared for an explosion of Garifuna Culture!
