GUYANESE from all walks of life trekked from near and far to flock the National Park on Monday as the nation celebrated 178 years of Emancipation.Organised by the African Cultural and Development Association (ACDA), the event also attracted a few tourists who were eager to join in the celebrations. Some were there for the cultural atmosphere and some were there for the food, but most were there to see and be seen. Whatever the reason, people definitely turned out in their numbers to have a good time.

African wear took centre stage, thus many persons made special effort to ensuring their outfits were as original as possible. The eye-catching, brightly printed and wonderfully designed outfits definitely added a fillip to the day’s atmosphere as persons leisurely strolled along the circuit of the National Park, which was lined with several booths promoting the African culture.

Many families were easily identifiable with their uniquely matching pieces, while several of the matching mother-and-daughter ensembles turned heads at the sheer cuteness of the sight.

Some patrons found this year’s hosting to be better than the preceding years’ and sentiments were appropriately expressed by one particular supporter who had come all the way from Linden to be a part of the celebrations.

“To me,” she said, “this year looked like the best. It’s great! I like the dancers, I like seeing the people all decked out in their African outfits [and] trying out the food. I just bought a cook-up. I came all the way from Linden. I was hearing about it being advertised, so I came out to see what it’s like.”

According to Christian Sobers, who was part of the gathering, this year’s celebration showed more racial diversity that those in years gone by.
“This year is a little slower than usual, but it has a nice vibe. Like I see a lot more people in their cultural wear, I see a lot of foreigners here today. This year it’s a lot more balanced; when I came in I saw like a bunch of Indian people, some mixed people, and I don’t usually see that on Emancipation Day, when it’s usually just a lot of Black people coming out. So that was nice,” he said.

Aside from the booths, patrons were treated to a cultural show held earlier in the day on the circuit of the National Park instead of on the stage of the inner National Park Tarmac.

While the day’s activities went without much trouble for the earlier part of the day, as patrons began to pour in around 16:00 hrs, many voiced dissatisfaction and angst over being denied entry to the Tarmac, where they were hoping to have a seat and picnic.
ACDA representative and coordinator for the event, Ayeesha Hinds, explained that security measures for the concert in which Jamaican artiste Luciano was scheduled to perform later that evening had caused the tarmac to be closed off.

“This here, the tarmac, was strictly for the Luciano show. The rules by the police are this: it’s a big show, and every single person entering the tarmac has to be checked for security reasons; so the police locked off this area,” Hinds explained.

Nonetheless, several persons had already earlier breached a barrier and made their way into the stands of the tarmac. Patrons outside were further enraged to learn that to enter the tarmac they had to purchase a $1000 concert ticket instead of the regular $500 ticket.

“They didn’t advertise it like that. On television it said $500 for adults, $100 for children and $1000 after 5 PM. I know what I saw, and ACDA needs to get their act together,” one irate patron said.

Several disappointed persons then chose to leave the day’s activities prematurely, and discouraged others from coming in.

“This was poor organizing. The stage small, small at the back, the ground soak; is sheer water. This is we day, this is we park and we getting harassed at the gate? This is nonsense!” another patron said.