By Faith Greene
GUYANA’S annual Emancipation Festival has always served as a family-oriented activity where people of African Descent can gain knowledge about who they are and experience where their ancestors would have come from.

This year, African Cultural & Development Association (ACDA) celebrates its 30th anniversary and 30th Emancipation Celebration on August 1, at the National Park.
This also marks ACDA’s ninth year celebrating Emancipation during the International Decade for People of African Descent (IDPAD), which was started in January 2015 and will end on December 31, 2024.

This year is also extremely significant to the Guyanese people since August 18 will mark the 200th Anniversary of the 1823 Demerara Rebellion, an important turning point in the fight against the British imperial plantation system and global chattel slavery. This ties the two celebrations together beautifully.

The Festival’s Coordinator, Aisha Haynes, spoke with the Pepperpot this week and delved into details on the history of the Emancipation Day festival and what we can expect on August 1.
“The whole purpose of the festival is to celebrate and commemorate 1834, the end of chattel slavery, not in Guyana, but around the world, because most of the stuff that happened in Guyana also stirred and created change around the world,” she said.

She added that this year, they are honouring the martyrs of 1823. “So, it’s the 200th year of that revolt. Because of that, we’re focusing on the village where that happened and that, that happened on August 18 at Bachelor’s Adventure Village.”

Bachelor’s Adventure, a Village on the East Coast Demerara, between Paradise and Enterprise, was selected as the significant history to be honoured at this year’s festival; and according to ACDA, it is situated on former estate land, or what was considered as sugar land, which once played a role in Guyana’s history 200 years ago. At this village, the sole significant armed confrontation occurred between the government forces and the enslaved Africans of the East Coast who rose up in 1823.

Moreover, the 1823 Demerara Rebellion displayed incredible daring, courage, the effectiveness of group action, and the capacity of the enslaved to shape their own fate by attacking the institutional and physical embodiment of their servitude.

On August 1, all roads will lead to the National Park, where thousands will line up to witness and participate in several activities for the entire day.

The day begins with a sunrise service at 05:30hrs, followed by an Ansa McAL sponsored Cook-up competition from 12 to 14:00hrs; then the best-dressed competition from 15:00hrs – 16:00hrs. According to Haynes, the cook-up competition will feature vegetarian cook-up and cook-up with different types of meat in them.

She explained that part of the reason why some people look forward to these events is because some of these dishes are widely tried on Emancipation Day. Haynes said, “I think after, there’s a greater anticipation. I feel a lot of people are really excited. All types of people, all backgrounds, all ages, seem very invested, very excited.” She said, “What I want to emphasise is that it’s an entire day. It’s a festival.”

She further explained that it’s not a show, but a festival that has live music and live elements. She said further, that the Emancipation Festival is THE largest cultural festival in the region.
“We have other people around the Caribbean wanting to come to Guyana for our Emancipation Festival. So, with that, I’ve gotten a lot of interests from different walks of life, from different parts of the region not just Guyana,” she said.

Aisha noted that at their auditions last Sunday, there were Venezuelan groups who had a translator explain that they wanted to be on stage for this event. She said, “The amount of interest and drive, I’m really excited to see people feel so excited about it,”

Continuing, she said, “Everybody has their own interests, like even between the fashion competitions; We do the best dressed in the park, where we go through and we pick people and that’s a whole vibe by itself.”

Emancipation Festival activities
Additionally, the gates open at 10:00hrs and the activities lead into performances from international and regional performers. These range from Grammy Award-winning Morgan Heritage and Band; to International Award Winning Afrobeat star, Stonebwoy, from Ghana. A series of international cultural presentations and regional drumming groups will also be held. These events will be held on centre stage from 10:00hrs to 16:00hrs and tarmac stage which starts from 14:00hrs to 20:00hrs.

A number of local artistes will also take the stage, including acrobats, musical artistes, poets (spoken words), and performers, as well as performing groups (dances, skits and so on). Educational booths highlighting the African Cultural and Development Association Story and History, booths: 1823 Rebellion, African Guyanese Village Movement, Hairstyles, History, Music, Names, among other things.

Children will also have the opportunity to see the “Hello ACDA- Guyana” Children’s Parade and Fun Centre activities from 10:00hrs to 16:30hrs. The Children Centre will have folk games, face painting, storytelling, coloring, and bouncy castles.

A fashion Competition- Judging Centre Stage from15:00hrs to 16:00hrs- the best African dressed: Male, Female, Child and Family. Music, Dance and Poetry Competitions; Food cooking and eating competitions; And Sporting Activities.

Furthermore, it must be noted that the events are aimed at seeing youths in action, demonstrating their skills in the spirit of Emancipation season. The teams taking part are from Georgetown, East Bank, East Coast and West Coast Berbice.

She explained that counting down to Emancipation Day, there is usually a street bazaar. This, she said occurs about two weeks before the festival, and, “Every day in Main Street, there are vendors from different parts of Guyana that come together and have food, drinks and there’s drumming and there’s fashion.”

Focal African countries
Another annual tradition is the choosing of the African Country that will be honoured. This is done by building an educational booth for that country. This year 2023, the focus will be BENIN.
Benin, is a country with a very rich African influence, history and culture, and will proudly be showcased during the observance of this Emancipation. It is a French-speaking West African nation with a population of approximately 13 million; and is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north-west, and Niger to the northeast. It is the birthplace of the vodun (or “voodoo”) religion and home to the former Dahomey Kingdom from circa 1600–1900. The Dahomey Kingdom became popular, especially their “Woman Warriors” after being featured in movies like ‘The Woman King’ and ‘Black Panther.’

They said that Benin City has always been famous for its “bronzes”; brass work found in museums around the world; some of which is said to date from the 13th century.

This year’s Pre-Emancipation Day activities include the launch, which was held on July 6. This was followed by: A Celebration of Life in honour of their Queen Mother, Sister Clementine Marshall; African Street Theater on Main Street from July 17 to 31; and an Emancipation Spiritual Tribute for the 1832 Bicentennial Martyrs at Parade Ground which will be from July 30 to 31.
Post-Emancipation will feature an award ceremony and reception for ACDA’s Akwaaba Centre on August 5. This year’s emancipation theme is “Honoring our 1823 Bicentennial Martyrs, Reviving their Spirit”.