Carnaval de San Pedro
El Carnaval de San Pedro was San Pedro’s most important folklore celebration, one of the biggest carnivals in Belize. The carnival has traditions that date back to the 19th century. Some of the best-known carnival traditions, including parades and masquerade balls, were first recorded in medieval Italy, where the carnival of Venice was the most famous. From Italy, the custom spread to Spain, Portugal, and France and, through colonization, to the Caribbean, Latin America, and parts of North America. The carnival of Cádiz, Spain, even now one of the best known, was particularly influential in shaping the traditions that would later predominate in San Pedro. When the Spanish conquered Mexico and established the cities of Merida, Valladolid, and Bacalar, they brought carnival traditions with them. As the Caste War (Guerra de las Castas) spread throughout the Yucatán, those traditions traveled south with the Maya, Mestizo, and Caucasian refugees who settled on Ambergris Caye and elsewhere in Belize.
The Carnaval customs of San Pedro resemble and appear derived from those of Cádiz. Even now, the people of Cádiz are known for their humor. While celebrations elsewhere featured the glamorous or scandalous, those in Cádiz were traditionally infused with playfulness, off-beat but imaginative costumes, clever word plays, and even sharp social and political criticism disguised as comedy. Face painting substituted for masks, and the city became famous for its comedic street singing groups, comparsas.
Read about it here:
https://www.sanpedroscoop.com/2019/01/2019-carnaval-carnival-san-pedro-belize-paint.html