Belizeanness

The second underlying purpose of the festival was that it was a way to foster nationalism and create a sense of "Belizeanness" independent of any of the cultural imports which were the mainstay of festival performances.

There were some forces and factors that appeared as unifying towards establishing a commonly shared Belizeanness which Andy Palacio described well as Punta Rock, fear of Guatemala, rice, beans and stew chicken, and the English language.