The feast of Victor Schoelcher and the village of Grand-Case took place in the tradition, on Sunday July 21.
The formal part, with the ecumenical mass and official speeches, opened the celebrations in the morning. The festive program made up of traditional games for children and sports games, with a superb country boat race, took over until the evening.
The high point of this day of celebrations, the fireworks were launched at 22 p.m. on the bay, to end the Grand Case 2019 celebrations in style.
Daniel Gibbs' tribute
to Victor Schoelcher
“It is always with great pleasure and emotion that the SCHOELCHER Festival, in Grand-Case, takes place every year.
This ceremony is also the celebration of the village, its authenticity, its inhabitants. And I warmly thank, in this regard, all the people and neighborhood associations, who contributed to the organization, alongside the services of the Community, to make this celebration a success.
Each July 21 is the occasion, for all of us, to respect our duty of memory, around a common homage to Victor SCHOELCHER: to man, to his spirit and to his battles against slavery, racism and tyranny.
Its historic role, alas very late recognized, was indeed decisive.
These battles, to which we pay tribute today, were often misunderstood, sometimes desperate, always difficult ...
In the past, France, willingly proclaiming itself to the avant-garde, has indeed waited a very long time before coming to effective abolition. And those who were its first artisans, such as Father GREGOIRE, have often been criticized.
While in 1848, Victor SCHOELCHER drafted and signed the abolition decree, his role was decisive: he saved the honor of the Nation, restoring France's dignity, our dignity.
Victor Schoelcher had the intuition and the genius to feel that major historical decisions do not allow political and budgetary calculations; that prudence is in daring; that the Abolition is not prepared, but proclaimed, total and immediate ...
The spirit of the illustrious SCHOELCHER therefore inhabits Grand-Case, every July 21, and this is what makes these celebrations so moving and fraternal ”.
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