DURING the last week in July, leading up to August 1, Emancipation Day, the people of Trinidad and Tobago, led by the Emancipation Support Committee, pay homage to ancestors who struggled for centuries for their freedom paying homage to the African builders of a civilisation.

Sounds of traditional drums, modern steelpans which evolved from the same creative source, calypso that took shape as a witty weapon against the planter class and other folk expressions echo through the land at various celebratory functions.

Artistes from other parts of Africa itself, add to the enthralling mix at the Lidj Yasu Omowale Emancipation Village, the main centre of activities for the period.

In song, dance, visual images and speech Africa is always present in this multi-dimensional festival.

The wisdom of words and the rhythms of art blend to create a happening that is educational, entertaining, exciting and inspirational.

Confronted with the crisis of youth, there are those who welcome the opportunity to interact with positive African youth constructing their world view through work, cultural expression, the utilisation of traditional knowledge as well as modern technology, and dialogue -- which is what is in evidence on the specially-designated Youth Day, organised and managed by the youth.

Art aficionados get the chance to view the creative outputs of the country’s finest painters and sculptors.

More intellectual stimulation is provided by workshops and fora designed to help shape the African future, the most prominent session here being the panel on Africa and its Diaspora.

Visual displays that focus on important areas of self-knowledge such as African History, and African contributions to science and technology from ancient to modern times, reinforce the learning environment.

Those whose sense of mission centres on the children will be delighted to see their engagement in workshops that use imaginative discussion, story telling, audio-visual material, the internet and other media to give them deeper knowledge of themselves, involve them in artistic production, teach them skills such as walking on stilts, pan tuning, African drumming and dance in sessions conducted by local masters and internationally famous artistes who come for major performances and gladly share their talent with the youngsters.

Everyone finds something of interest in the Trans-Atlantic Expo, Trade International Market and Trade Exposition where creative products from Trinidad and Tobago and other parts of the Caribbean, including Haiti, and a number of African countries, are on display.

One of the most popular highlights of the period is the Emancipation Day parade on the morning of August 1, the Kambule.

Some 20,000 participants on the street, and tens of thousands more who crowd the sidewalk, create a spectacle of colour dominated by African motifs, textiles and designs adding visual vibrations to the rhythm of ancestral drums and chants, and modern African musical expressions of the Diaspora.

Exponents of the African martial art, capoeira, draw spectator attention with their dramatic flips and “sequencias”.

Moko Jumbies tower above the parade displaying their spectacular agility on stilts.

Formal dance troupes entertain with their choreographed routines.

The parade reflects the rich social texture of emancipation.

All strata of the local population and guests from abroad share a profound experience of ancestral reverence and joyful celebration of the triumph of the human spirit over tyranny.

There are three main Kambule points of reflection:

1st Stop -- The Treasury Building is the first stop. Slavery was brought to an end in the British West Indies with the Emancipation Bill of 1833. In Trinidad the Emancipation Proclamation was read on August 1st 1834 at the Treasury Building site, but the system of enslavement legally ended on August 1, 1838.

2nd Stop -- The procession then moves to Besson Street, which was one of the early settlement areas of the Yorouba people of Africa. After the abolition of slavery, some of the people, mostly Yorouba, left the estate to seek employment as close to the town centre as possible. Not being able to actually live or afford accommodation in Port of Spain, they occupied this site which now houses the police station and the square.

3rd Stop -- All Stars Pan Yard, this pan yard was the site of the 1881 Kambule riots. The colonial military attempted to stop the procession of stick fighters from proceeding along the streets. The stick fighter/kalenda ensemble remained defiant as they gathered together that day in 1881.

The military charged with their bayonets expecting them to retreat, but the stick men stood their ground and retaliated with Bois!

The colonial forces were defeated that day.

Participants include ministers of government, among them the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, foreign diplomats, community organisations, religious organisations, performing groups, visitors from abroad, and thousands of individuals and small groups who join to make their statement of what emancipation means to them.

The truth is, no matter what inspires the initial attraction to the festival, the multi-dimensional whole eventually captivates the participants completely leaving an indelible impression.