WITH a long list of events slated for its 183rd anniversary, the village of Victoria will come alive from November 12 to November 27.

Organised by Cool Crew Promotion and the A-Team, this year’s celebration is anticipated to be a grand one, with activities for the young, the old and the in-between.

Lynton Luke of Cool Crew Promotion told The Buzz that the celebration will feature a church service, gospel concert, primary school quiz competition on the history of the village, athletics, dominoes, cricket and football competitions, senior citizen celebration, basketball, J’ouvert, village day, and karaoke competitions.

Cool Crew Promotion prides itself in catalyzing social and cultural events and functions in Victoria for the educational uplift and social development of youths, Luke said before adding that these activities are positive alternatives to unsocial and detrimental behaviour.

The A-Team has also been promoting and managing events along the East Coast corridor over the years.

According to Luke, this year’s theme and events aim to galvanise villagers to play new roles in the development of the community in harmony with the Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC), the Region Four administration, and central government.

Deemed the “mother of all villages”, Victoria is the first village in Guyana to be bought by freed slaves.

It is located on the Atlantic coast of the country, 18 miles east of the capital city Georgetown and is bordered by Cove and John to the west and Belfield to the east.

In November 1839, a year and three months after being freed from slavery, approximately 83 ex-slaves from five nearby estates: Hope, Douchfour, Ann’s Grove, Paradise and Enmore, pooled their savings which amounted to $6000.

They were able to use that money to make a down payment on the purchase price ($10,000) for Plantation Northbrook. The plantation was later renamed in honour of England’s Queen Victoria and the abolition of slavery which was deemed a ‘victory’ for the ex-slaves.