Events
Emancipation Day 2022: 'Ancestral Echos' marked the 159th anniversary with the Diamond 26 Run For Freedom
Sint Maarten marked the 159th anniversary of the abolition of slavery in 2022 under the theme 'Ancestral Echos', with a night-time reenactment of the Diamond 26 Run For Freedom from Union Road, Cole Bay, into 1 July and a cultural event at Belle Vue Saint Jean Plantation, according to the government.
By SXM Daily ·
Reported 27 June 2022.
Sint Maarten's Emancipation Day 2022 carried the theme "Ancestral Echos" and marked the 159th anniversary of the proclamation abolishing slavery on the Dutch side, according to a government release from the Department of Culture, carried by news.sx.
The run for freedom
According to the government, Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport Rodolphe Samuel hosted the celebration, which began on Union Road in Cole Bay at 10:30pm on 30 June. It featured a reenactment of the "Diamond 26 Run For Freedom" that ran into 1 July, followed by a cultural event at the Belle Vue Saint Jean Plantation.
The release recalled that people enslaved on the southern half of the island knew those on the northern side had been free since 1848, and that many ran away, actions the government said helped bring about abolition.
Ponum Dance workshop
To prepare, the Department of Culture invited residents to a free Ponum Dance workshop at the John Larmonie Center on Monday 27 June 2022 at 7pm, where attendees could watch a documentary on the dance and learn its history.
The government noted that Emancipation Day was the first public holiday established by Sint Maarten's Parliament after the country gained its status within the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
For background, see Emancipation on Saint Martin: freedom in 1848 and 1863, and Emancipation Day. The 2025 commemoration is covered in Emancipation Day 2025: USM lecture on the 'Zout steeg Three'.