Ahead of Abolition Day, many in the Niagara Region are gathering to remember the region’s role in the fight to end slavery.
St. Catharines was one of the stops on the underground railroad, and on Sunday, a picnic was held in Lakeside Park to commemorate the historic moment.
The first one began over 190 years ago when slavery was abolished, but the first official picnic for Emancipation Day was celebrated at the park in the early 1900s.
The event used to see thousands of people from all over Southern Ontario attend, but since the pandemic, the group which organizes the event has been working hard to get those numbers back.
“Around 2018 it got rained out, it just died, then came the pandemic,” Erika Smith, one of the events organizers, said. “We really wanted to do something for the black community. We were feeling really down about the George Floyd murder and about the Black Lives Matter movement being so politicized.”
That’s when her organization, A Matter of Black, was formed to revamp the picnic into what residents see today.
Joanne Anderson, a vendor, says she’s happy the tradition is continuing so the young generation will remember their history. “Even coming here as a vendor is so full circle for me, I was here playing as a kid over 60 years ago, and then here I am today.”