On August 12, 2026, Belize’s Department of Youth Services marked International Youth Day by breaking the long-held narrative that young people are only “leaders of tomorrow” — launching a youth-centered Youth Fest that empowers the nation’s next generation to lead, debate, and shape their country right now.
Unlike traditional commemorative events where youth are cast as participants or audience members, 2026’s Youth Fest was entirely spearheaded by young interns and organizers, with adult supervisors only stepping in to offer support. The gathering drew hundreds of young attendees from three of Belize’s districts — Belize District, Orange Walk, and Cayo — packing a full day of culturally rooted programming, creative showcases, and critical dialogue that centered issues young Belizeans care about most.
Fifteen-year-old Deshly Lanza, one of the event’s lead youth organizers and a summer intern at the Department of Youth Services, walked through the dynamic lineup of activities crafted entirely by her and her teenage peers. “This year, because it was managed by young people, teenagers, we decided to make it engaging,” Lanza explained. “This morning we had a debate on whether we thought young people should have a seat at the political table when it comes to making decisions about the country. We had dancing, we had a Garifuna Jones group come in, culture stars. We had Belize Trivia as well, and currently we are having the digital art competition.”
The event is more than just a one-day celebration: it is a deliberate push to embed youth leadership in Belize’s national discourse year-round. Tanya Danderson, Youth Entrepreneurship Coordinator at the Department of Youth Services, emphasized that the energy, fresh perspective, and innovative thinking young people bring to national issues cannot be confined to a single annual commemoration. “I think it is so important because our young people, they have a voice and we need to listen to them. And today’s activity was spearheaded by our young interns and we, the supervisors, we just supported them,” Danderson said. “And I think it’s important for opportunities like this to be given to your young people because they are making changes as we speak and in the future we can look up to them.”
For attendees and young organizers alike, the festival has already delivered tangible impact beyond fun and entertainment. Eighteen-year-old participant Kyeldani Pott shared that the event created rare space for young people to collaborate on future action. “I find it very enjoyable being able to engage with everyone and have these very important discussions that will eventually cultivate different prospective projects or volunteering for the future especially considering that many of us are young leaders or aspiring leaders,” Pott noted.
The 2026 Youth Fest is just one of dozens of empowerment events hosted across Belize to mark International Youth Day, all aimed at encouraging young people to take active leadership roles in their local communities. The report was filed by Britney Gordon for News Five, from on-site at the festival.