Emancipation Park
Oxford Road and Knutsford Boulevard, Kingston, GBR
Emancipation Park is a 7-acre swath of green space in the New Kingston area of the Jamaican capital. It’s a popular spot for picnicking and has a jogging path around the perimeter, fountains, and gardens featuring a mix of native and imported plants, as well as several particularly worthwhile public art installations.
While this park is worth visiting just to relax and soak in some greenery, it’s the artwork here that really makes it stand out, with the statueRedemption Song at the entrance and African Adinkra symbols incorporated throughout the park. These include the Futumfrafo, a 2-headed crocodile, on the sides of the benches, and the Wafa Aba, seed of the wafa tree, decorating the top of the perimeter fence. The park is a popular stop on tours focusing on Kingston highlights and local culture.
Emancipation Park is a must-visit for those interested in art.
Wear comfortable footwear and bring sunscreen and bug spray.
The park is wheelchair-accessible.
Located in the New Kingston area of the city, near many of the tourist hotels, Emancipation Park sits at the corner of Oxford Road and Knutsford Boulevard, across the street from the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel. Getting here from downtown takes 10 to 15 minutes by taxi, while the Bob Marley Museum is about a 7-minute drive away.
Like most outdoor attractions in Jamaica, Emancipation Park is best visited during the dry season, roughly November through May (April and June temperatures can be insufferably hot). The park is open from Monday through Thursday from 5am to 11pm, and Friday through Sunday from 5am to 12am.
Emancipation Park honors the abolition of slavery, which began across most of the British Empire in 1834, a good three decades before slavery was abolished in the United States. Emancipation Day is celebrated annually in Jamaica on August 1. TheRedemption Song statue at the entrance shows two figures looking up at the sky, symbolic of freedom from enslavement.
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