On Friday, the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport was to have hosted “The 1823 Bicentennial Cultural Festival and Concert” on the grounds around the 1823 monument on the Kitty seawall. This was to be followed yesterday by an expansive series of continuous performances of African folklore items stretching from mid-afternoon until well into the night at Lamaha Promenade, a section of the recently developed old railway embankment adjacent to Lamaha Street in Georgetown.
The August 18, 1823 rebellion on the East Coast Demerara is cited by historians as being largely responsible for the official declaration of the abolition of slavery. The anniversary concert was designed to highlight and dramatise the uprising. Yesterday’s event, with its prolonged evening duration and street-side setting, was to have resembled the old soirees that used to be held in Guyana on the eve of Emancipation Day.