The newly reinstated Emancipation Day will be celebrated with a full week of public events next month, following a ‘Year of the Return’ theme.
The Ministry of Youth, Sports and Heritage has published the full list of upcoming events, starting with ‘345 Day’ on Friday, 3 May.
To mark the occasion, everyone in the community is invited to wear their Caymanian Proud T-shirts, blue, white and red clothing, or other celebratory wear.
Last November, the ministry said Cabinet approved replacing Discovery Day – commemorating when Christopher Columbus sighted Cayman Brac and Little Cayman on 10 May 1503 – with Emancipation Day as an official public holiday. But later, Cabinet decided to retain Discovery Day after all, so there are now two public holidays in May.
Though the Cayman Islands observed Emancipation Day in 1835 — the year Captain Anthony Pack read the proclamation in Bodden Town — leaders replaced the celebration with Constitution Day in the 1960s. Legislators revisited the holiday in late 2022, and in 2023, they moved forward with reinstating it.
“The festivities promise to be a vibrant and celebratory tribute to our heritage and a testament to the resilience of our people,” the 17 April press release said.
Week of events
The official emancipation opening gala is planned for Saturday, 4 May, at Pedro St. James, though it is by invitation only, and not open to the general public.
A church service will take place at 4pm on Sunday, 5 May, at Elmslie Memorial United Church in George Town.
On Monday, 6 May, at 1-6pm, an emancipation celebration will be held on Seafarers Way in George Town, and on the following day, at 9am on 7 May, a turtle release will be carried out on West Bay Beach.
On Wednesday, 8 May, there will be an unveiling of a commemorative plaque at the Bodden Town Slave Wall on Monument Road.
Festivities will then move to Cayman Brac, where emancipation celebrations will be held from 11am to 8pm on Saturday, 11 May, in Heritage Park at Spot Bay.
The week of events will come to a close with a church service planned at 10am on Sunday, 12 May, at the Aston Rutty Centre on the Brac.
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It is unfortunate that the main function for Emancipation Day at Pedro’s is closed to the public. The freedom of slaves in Cayman should be celebrated by everyone. Will the celebration on Seafarers Way offer the same refreshments as offered to our politicians, civil servants and their ilk at Pedro’s?, – I doubt it. Also what sense does it make retaining both Public Holidays in the same month?.