Third annual Emancipation Day celebration taking place in Soper Park
Posted Jul 26, 2025 06:00:00 AM.
Last Updated Jul 26, 2025 01:31:31 PM.
Members of the community are invited to Soper Park in Cambridge on Saturday for the third annual Emancipation Day celebration.
Organized by Rhythm and Blues Cambridge, the event marks the end of slavery in Canada when the Slavery Abolition Act took effect on August 1, 1834, after being passed in 1833.
Marjorie Knight, the founder of Rhythm and Blues Cambridge, was on the Mike Farwell Show on Tuesday, and said it’s important to celebrate Emancipation Day to show how far society has come since slavery was abolished.
“There have been some remarkable people who have done remarkable things in building nations, countries and communities and we need to celebrate that,” Knight said. “We need to show our youth that we are standing on the shoulder of greatness and that anything is possible.”
She notes that normally the celebration would be held on August 1, but they did not want to conflict with other events happening that day.
Saturday’s event will feature live music, food, dancers, a drumming circle. The celebration will also bring back the history corner, but new this year will feature speakers talking about Indigenous history.
The event is free to attend and runs from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m.
