The Festival was opened by the Governor General, HE Sir Colville Young, at the Wine and Chocolate evening on Friday 18th May. Held on the rooftop terrace of PG Sports Bar, with music by the Pallotti Chamber Ensemble, visitors enjoyed a selection of international and local wines and cocktails, as well as a range of chocolate-themed hors d'oeuvres - from chocolate chicken satay to vodka chili chocolates, cacao-dusted shrimp tostone cups, and spicy sausage bites with mole sauce.

The Taste of Toledo Cookery and Craft Fair in Punta Gorda's Central Park featured chocolate-making demonstrations, chocolate soy ice cream, anda new-recipe chocolate seaweed drink, as well as a new 'cacao' range of Maya Bags and a whole host of other craft items and cultural displays - including the NGC Garifuna display, which won the 'best decorated booth' competition.

The Park also played host to a spectacular performance of the Maya Deer Dance by the villagers of Otoxa, as well as marimba and harp music by groups from San Jose and Santa Cruz.

While parents browsed the craft fair, children took part in the supervised Cacao for Kids activities, organised by the Toledo Environmental Educators Group. The Group comprises four major conservation organisations from Toledo -- Earthwatch, Y'axche Trust, TIDE, and SATIIM. They showed that environmental education is also fun, and their activities included a drawing competition with the theme "Toledo, the birthplace of chocolate', a series of movies, and face painting, as well as a number of chocolate and cacao-themed activities.

TIDE's Executive Director, Ms Celia Mahung, commented,
"The Toledo Environmental Educators Group is a great example of organisations working together, and working within the community. Toledo is one of the most pristine areas of our country, and activities such as the Cacao for Kids programme allow us to educate the youth about the importance of cherishing and preserving the unique natural beauty of our District."

Sea Toledo marine trips and boat rides gave visitors the chance to appreciate the natural beauty of the Port Honduras Marine Reserve and enjoy a beach BBQ at the tiny village of Punta Negra, while Sunday's Cacao Trail led visitors inland to Toledo's chocolate country to visit he organic cacao plantations and learn how the pods are grown, harvest and processed, and then on to swimming, caving and hiking at Blue Creek Rainforest Preserve.


Culture in Harmony music events on Saturday evening showcased jazz by The Mystics at the Coral House Inn, as well as the Folklore and Music Culture Club - Earth Runnins Cafe's new house band. The music continued into Sunday with performances by PG legends Paul Nabor and Lee-Laa Vernon at the Festival Finale, which was followed by a spectacular firework display over the Bay of Honduras.


Committee Chairperson, Darla Mallory, said that
"We're delighted that we achieved our aims for the first Festival. We wanted to raise awareness of the District and we received a number of visitors from other parts of Belize, as well as international visitors. We also wanted to complete a community project as part of each year's Festival, and we started with the re-painting of Central Park, as the first stage of a longer-term landscaping project. Our final goal was to encourage the devlopment of new product lines, and Mr Gomier's chocolate soy ice cream and Tito's new chocolate seaweed drink proved tremendously popular, as did the wide range of arts and crafts on offer at the Festival.

None of the Committee had undertaken anything on this scale before, and we've obviously had an incredible amount of help and community support in making the Festival a success, especially from Paul Mahung who acted tirelessly as MC throughout the weekend, as well as major contributions from our Festival sponsors, without whom none of this would have been possible. They are due a huge vote of thanks!

Toledo is known for so many things - the wide range of cultures, our off-the-beaten-track jungle adventure, the marine environment and wonderful cayes, and of course chocolate! The Festival aimed to provide something for everyone, with many free events, and we wanted to highlight the many flavours of the District.

This was the first of an annual community event which we believe will firmly establish Toledo as the chocolate capital of Belize, and we're looking forward to making CacaoFest 2008 even better."