The first two-day Emancipation celebration may be held next year according to Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the African Cultural Development Association (ACDA), Mrs Violet Jean-Baptiste.
In an interview with Stabroek News last week at ACDA's North Road location, Jean-Baptiste went on to say that next year's Emancipation Day will fall on a Friday, but celebrations will continue into Saturday. Plans for the festivities will begin immediately after current emancipation projects are completed she said. She estimated that all current projects should be finished by the end of August.
She noted that another change that may occur is an alteration in the days for the bird whistling competition usually held on the Sunday prior to the Emancipation celebrations. It will be held at the sunrise service on Emancipation Day since this time seems better for participants, she said.
Jean-Baptiste said, "My spirit is glad, I am very pleased and the ancestors are very pleased" with the celebrations held this year. She expressed the view that "rascality and mischief makers whose primary intent was to not let people go to the National Park" started the rumour about a bomb explosion which was to occur on the day of the celebration. This, she believed, led to the decreased number of participants and spectators. In spite of this, she would still call the event a success.
"I was very happy because of the support from the African people, that their very presence affirmed. Even at the possibility of death, they were not deterred. They brought out their children and they all came out," Jean-Baptiste said.
Knowing that these were just rumours but still wanting to ensure that people around felt safe, the number of security officers was doubled said Jean-Baptiste.
She said that this had a negative impact on some people and made them very edgy because they felt paranoid about what might happen to them. This was shown by the fact that as soon as it got dark parents with children left the National Park where previously they would stay for the stage shows.
She said that although spectators were down about twenty per cent in comparison to previous years, their fun level was on an all-time high. Spectators were continuously congratulating members of ACDA on a very well-organized and very fun celebration Jean-Baptiste stated.
Noting some additional aspects of the celebration that had suffered decline, she said that the renting of stalls dropped significantly because vendors believed that the rumour in circulation would result in no one turning up at the National Park.
Another aspect that suffered according to Jean-Baptiste was the children's parade. She stated that concerned parents pulled their children out of the competition at the last minute and in some cases entire groups were pulled out.
One aspect of the celebration that showed an upsurge she said was the increase in the number of families that came out and participated in events. She said that this brought her an enormous amount of pleasure. There was also much enthusiasm shown by spectators towards participating in various sports activities such as cricket, football and circle tennis.