Celebration to honour black city neighbourhood

The Black Cultural Society of Prince Edward Island has announced that a free cultural event will recognize the existence of the most unusual and diverse neighbourhood in Charlottetown’s history.

Festival for the Bog will be held on July 15 in the city’s old west end, where “the Bog,” a community founded by former slaves brought to the Island in the 1780’s and later cast off by their owners, existed for nearly a century.

With relatively few black immigrants to the Island in the 19th century, blacks and whites intermarried, and the Bog became a mixed-race area with a distinctly African heritage that set it apart from other poor areas of town. A map of the Bog, focused on 1867 residents, will be published in advance.

Sponsored by Canada 150 and the Black Cultural Society of P.E.I., Festival for the Bog will begin at 1 p.m. with a walking tour of the area lead by Jim Hornby. The tour will identify the households of 1867, recounting history of the people and community during the 19th century. It will proceed down Rochford Street, (which will be temporarily closed to traffic), from near Euston Street and Black Sam’s Bridge to Jail (Pownal) Square, where a staged event will present commentaries, art and music to acknowledge this unacknowledged community.

Music will be presented by the Scott Parsons Band, Jim Hornby and the West Enders and Tamara, Claire and Friends.

A special feature of the stage portion of the event is that the citizens of Charlottetown, with a special welcome to the many descendants of the Bog, are invited to offer any comments they may wish to contribute during the remembrance.

Anyone interested is welcome to contact Hornby, festival director, at hornby@pei.sympatico.ca, or Parsons, president of the Black Cultural Society, at jupiterwisepei@gmail.com.