Thousands flock National Park for Emancipation 2015 celebrations

Aug 02, 2015 News

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By Nicholas Peters
The National Park was the scene of vibrant colours, rhythms, cultural enlightenment and delicious cuisines, as Guyana celebrated the 177th anniversary of the Emancipation Day.
Despite the sweltering heat, citizens from all across Guyana’s vast landscape came out to the National Park ready to take part in the festivities that surrounded African and Afro-Guyanese culture, in honour of the slaves and their ancestors.
While there was an evident threat of downpour, this did not deter the crowd that arrived at the  National Park in their African-themed fashion. Women beautified the park pavilion with brightly coloured head-wraps likened to an exotic flower garden, while the men traversed the area in fascinatingly patterned dashikis.
Even families decided to indulge in the cultural fashions available in the lead to yesterday, as toddlers matched their parents who also matched their grandparents in outfits. There was fashion which spanned generations of Guyanese proud to display their heritage.
Some outfit patterns included designs which incorporated shades of agriculture and flora coloured in green, yellow, orange and black; while others took more abstract approaches adopting eye-catching combinations of blue, red, purple and white.
But the fashions were as limitless as the imagination of those present as many attendees clearly put a lot of thought into their outfits from the stylishly attired headwear to the hand crafted balata footwear.
It was obvious that yesterday’s festivities were not only meant to entertain but to educate the public on the role Africa and its descendants have had on the entire world. A lot of emphasis was placed on setting up stalls which possessed information on African history, nations, culture and people, from organisers of the event, the African Cultural and Development Association (ACDA).
Persons were seen enthralled in the lessons of African history when they read the informative displays, as well as the pamphlets distributed, and discussed about, by volunteers.
In addition to the educational stalls, persons also had the option of appreciating the numerous folk dances, songs, poems, stories, skits and music that make up the milieu of Afro-Guyanese culture, on the National Park Tarmac.
Such performances sought to highlight the pathos and travesty which slavery brought to Guyana. One of the skits entitled “I am not for sale” even went so far as to remind the audience that while slavery had been abolished for centuries, millions around the world still fall victim to human trafficking, often deemed the “modern slavery”.
The displays managed to show off the vast span of Afro-culture and its dynamic nature which comes from its sorrowful past and triumphant spirit.
The tarmac also had performances from Miss Guyana World’s Lisa Punch, the Buxton Fusion Drummers, ACDA’s Association of Young Africans, the Guyana Soiree Band and the National School of Dance among others.
A large march parade was also organised, incorporating many of Guyana’s famous freed-slaves villages such as Buxton, Good Intent, Plaisance, Mocha and Vergenoegen. Even members of the Committed Nigerians for Guyana made an appearance.
However, even thought the park had a variety of activities for the enjoyment of family and friends, the clear crowd pleaser was located along the  pavilion on the park’s eastern side. There, many of the stallholders provided a wide range of cuisine and crafts for patrons to indulge in.
From Nigerian food, to local Creole dishes and inventive wines to handcrafted fineries, the pavilion definitely attracted crowds from young to old. Along the cuisine walk way, the park was filled with the savoury aromas of black-pudding, foo-foo, met-em-gee accompanied by the classic cook-up rice and fried fish.
Those who chose to sweeten their day indulged in the various delicacies such as conkie, pone and mittai which they washed down with uniquely blended mauby or ginger-beer to beat the heat.
Emancipation was an obvious achievement for the freedom movement in Guyana. It also signalled a new time of free trade and economic development for Guyana. According to one historian, who was handing out pamphlets on the 1823 Demerara Rebellion, emancipation introduced a new market through freed-slaves.
As he explained the significance of achieving emancipation, he shared that the freed slaved were innovators of the Guyanese economy as they moved from a state of servitude to liberation. This transition, he said, had remarkable implications for free trade in Guyana.
And the repercussions of this turn in free-trade can still be seen to have implications in today’s modern time, and many entrepreneurial small businesses were on display at the celebrations. Such businesses ranged from crafts to bottle beverages to clothing and self-published works.
Although slavery was abolished those 177 years ago, the spirit of perseverance and free-trade was still evident yesterday as entrepreneurs and patrons alike honoured their ancestors by embarking in the simple libations of an emancipated life.

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