Taste of Toledo Cookery and Craft Fair - Saturday 24th May
8am to 3pm, Central Park, Punta Gorda

Join us in Central Park for a day of cacao, chocolate, crafts, and culture! Learn how to roast cacao beans and make your own kukuh drink, see the cultural dances, and enjoy live music from PG's very own 'Queen of Brukdown' Leela Vernon!

Our Chocolate Tent features chocolate-making demonstrations from Cotton Tree Lodge, Goss Chocolate with their fabulous new range of chocolate, Cyrilla's homemade organic chocolate, Ms Xenobia's cacao balls, and Mr Gomier's famous chocolate soy ice cream.

You can get your raffle tickets, and tour and bus tickets from the CacaoFest Tent, along with our Festival t-shirts, and the very special "Music from the Chocolate Lands" CD, as well as a range of Stonetree Records CDs. We feature a new range of CacaoFest 'lifetime' bags, beautifully sewn by the ladies from the Maya Bags co-operative, in our quest to help reduce plastic and keep Toledo green and beautiful. The TCGA Ladies' Committee will be demonstrating how to roast cacao beans to make the ancient Maya Kuku U'kul drink, and they have "bean bags" on sale, as well as a delicious new cacao wine. SHI showcases their work with the organic cacao farmers, and you can buy your very own cacao tree!

There's food and drink a-plenty throughout the day, with traditional food from Toledo's cultural groups: visit the Cultural Food Tent and try the delicious East Indian cohune cabbage, Mestizo tamales, Maya caldo, Tito's chocolate seaweed, and of course the famous Garifuna Hudut. Drinks are available from the landmark Clocktower, run by the newly-formed Rotary Club of PG.

Visit the Craft Tent to see the beautiful Maya Bags 'cacao line', Cuxlin Ha's Maya Mask project, Mr James' new windchimes, and a range of Maya arts and crafts.

Schedule of events:

8.00 am   Opening of the Taste of Toledo Fair with the National Anthem sung by the children of St Benedict's School. Mr Cruz and the Belize Red Cross Volunteers (Toledo) will present arms during the anthem.

8.40 am   Maya dance performance by the students of Tumul K'in School

9.30 am   Garifuna dance performance

10.30 am   East Indian poetry reading

11.30 am   Garifuna dance performance

1.00 pm   Live music from Ms Leela Vernon, Queen of Brukdown
to 3.00pm