BVI celebrates 190 years of freedom with march, emancipation service

TORTOLA — The British Virgin Islands Emancipation Festival is more than just today’s grand parade and other activities planned through the weekend.

On Sunday, BVI residents marked 190 years of emancipation, a time when thousands of slaves were set free. This year, however, marks the 28th anniversary of the special service, which included a march of freedom that began from the Governor’s House to the area where the slaves were freed.

On Sunday, Acting Governor David Archer Jr., read a version of the emancipation proclamation when 5,133 slaves were set free in the area known as the Sunday Morning Well on Aug. 1, 1834. Bishop Shawn Bartley, a Jamaican native associated with the United Church in Pennsylvania, was guest speaker at the Sunday ceremony.