On the evening of Saturday, October 31st, a courtyard near the water in San Pedro, Ambergris Caye, swapped its usual bar-and-restaurant vibe for cobwebs, costumes and candy. The Belize Youth Movement's San Pedro chapter took over the former Black Pearl Restaurant and Fido's courtyard for its Spooky Halloween Fair, and local families turned up in force.
Entry was a wallet-friendly $5, which bought access to a haunted house, games, dancing, food and drinks, and the evening's main draw: a children's costume contest with categories for cutest, funniest, scariest, most creative and best homemade outfit. The winners gave the night its personality — a baby in a Little Red Riding Hood costume took the cutest prize, a Michael Jackson impersonator (costume and dance moves included) won the funniest category, and the scariest award went to a convincingly creepy Silent Hill nurse.
The fair sits inside a bigger push by the youth movement, which has been positioning itself as an organiser of safe, inclusive spaces for children on the island. Chapter member Francis Mendez summed up the thinking plainly: kids need more than somewhere to hang out — they need chances to make friends, show off talents and feel part of the community. "We wanted to have a night where children could simply be children," he said, adding that making a difference doesn't require anything extraordinary.
The event leaned heavily on local goodwill. Sponsors ranged from the office of Blue Economy Minister Andre Perez to a long list of island businesses — supermarkets, bakeries, beauty salons, printers and beverage supplier Bowen & Bowen among them — plus a volunteer crew and parents who helped pull it together.
For travellers, the takeaway is about the San Pedro beyond the beach bars and snorkel trips. The island has an active, family-friendly community scene, and visitors travelling with kids at Halloween may find pop-up fairs, costume events and community gatherings alongside the usual reef excursions. The BYM chapter has also said it wants more family-oriented activities and recreation centred on children, so expect similar events to keep appearing on the local calendar. If you're on the island in late October, it's worth checking community boards and social pages for what's on — a five-dollar fair with a haunted house beats a night in the hotel room.
Originally reported by the San Pedro Sun.
