Before Covid-19 hit in 2020, it was the yearly Easter tradition in Benque for townspeople to create amazingly beautiful colored sawdust tapestries on the streets, which would later be obliterated in a ceremonial Easter procession. The following description of Semana Santa appeared in the Spring, 2019, BIB NEWSLETTER and features the Pre-covid celebrations.
In the meantime, enjoy these memories from year before last, and plan ahead for years to come. Anyone can create a tapestry, called an alfombra, if previous arrangements are made. Residents at BIB had planned to participate in 2020 but had to scuttle plans when Covid appeared.
It is hoped that with the resumption of a normal life at some later date, this celebration will be resumed unchanged.
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Semana Santa, Holy Week, is a major celebration throughout Belize, but Benque is the place to experience it, as it is the only place in Belize where this celebration is still observed in the old, time-honored style.
Schools close from the Monday before the Easter weekend till the following Tuesday. Government offices and banks shut down at midday on Holy Thursday, for four and a half days. No alcohol is sold on Good Friday. ATMs can run out of money, so think ahead.
On Good Friday in Benque plan to attend the religious reenactment observances. Last year the Passion Play took place at John Paul II Junior College, then the procession, with the Christ stand-in carrying the cross, passed through the streets, accompanied by townspeople, for nearly half a mile to Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church where the crucifixion took place at noon. It was brutally realistic, and it was good that the narrator reminded watching children that it was just a play.
During the day on Good Friday, householders and civic groups decorate Benque’s streets with colorful sawdust carpet. Then at dusk, dozens of devoted penitents carry the terrifically heavy anda on which a life-size figure of Jesus lies inside a glass coffin, slowly around Benque on their shoulders, obliterating the sawdust designs as they walk. Reverent crowds accompany the procession on its hours-long circuit. Even non-religious viewers tend to be awed by this somber dramatization.
Sunday, of course, is Easter.
For the “sports minded,” the Holy Saturday Cross Country Cycle Race is held on Saturday, and most municipalities have fairs and dances to close off the long weekend (BTW, Easter bunnies aren’t “a thing” in Belize).
Semana Santa is a spectacular time to visit Benque Viejo — don’t miss it!