Pomp, pageantry, and national pride will be the order of the day when the annual Independence Day Parade is held on Saturday, November 30, at Kensington Oval, starting at 8:00 a.m.
Thousands are expected to pack the stands to witness the precision of approximately 890 people in the 22 armed and unarmed units and organisations, as they march to the strains of the Massed Band in slow and quick time on the parade square.
The parade will be under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Julia Dabreo. This is the third time in history that the parade is under the command of a female. The first being retired Lieutenant Colonel Atheline Branch, followed by retired Major Wendy Yearwood.
This year’s celebrations will be extra special as the date falls on the 100th Anniversary of the birth of Shirley Chisholm – an African American with Barbadian roots, who was the first black woman to be elected to the United States Congress and the first African American woman to seek the Democratic Presidential Nomination in 1972.
In her honour, there will be a video presentation chronicling her life, followed by a short address by the United States Congressional Representative, Hakeem Jeffries.
As an added spectacle to the event, there will be a special display by the Barbados Cadet Corps, in recognition of the organisation’s 120th Anniversary.
The President of Barbados, Her Excellency, The Most Honourable Dame Sandra Mason, will inspect the armed and unarmed units and organisations on parade.
The event will also include an address by Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley, and the presentation of National Honours and Awards, public service leadership awards, and leadership badges.
There will also be a cultural performance, a 21-gun salute to the nation, the recitation of the pledge by two primary school students from St. Christopher and St. Bartholomew Primary Schools, prayers and cheers to Barbados, and the presidential salute.
At the end of the ceremony, the troops will march from Kensington Oval, proceed along Fontabelle onto Lower Broad Street, Upper Broad Street, and then to National Heroes Square, where Prime Minister Mottley and Members of Parliament will receive the salute. (PR/GIS)
