For decades beginning in the 1920s, the Toronto Division of the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) hosted a hugely popular annual Emancipation Day celebration known as The Big Picnic at Lakeside Park in Port Dalhousie. Drawing families and community members from across Ontario and even New York State, this outdoor festival became a cornerstone of Black cultural life featuring music, speeches, camaraderie, and community pride. museumoftoronto.com+7toronto.resourcespace.com+7en.wikipedia.org+7

Marcus Garvey himself was deeply connected to this tradition he visited Canada several times between 1919 and 1938, attending UNIA conventions and speaking at these picnics. Notably, in August 1938, Garvey came to Toronto for the Eighth International Convention of the Negro Peoples of the World, and also addressed a massive crowd at the Big Picnic in nearby St. Catharines. His presence underscored the event’s significance in the Pan‑African movement and cemented its role as a site of racial pride and solidarity. museumoftoronto.com+1teachingafricancanadianhistory.weebly.com+1

Anchoring these celebrations was Toronto’s UNIA “Liberty Hall” at 355 College Street, purchased in 1925 and maintained as a hub of Black civic life until the early 1980s. The hall hosted everything from employment workshops to lectures including Garvey’s “School of African Philosophy” classes in September 1937 alongside regional UNIA conferences in 1936 – 37, further reinforcing Toronto’s central role in the Canadian network of Garveyism. panafricannews.blogspot.com+3museumoftoronto.com+3erudit.org+3 labourcommunityservices.ca+10spacing.ca+10toronto.resourcespace.com+10 

By the 1950s, while Garvey had passed on (1940) and the original organizers had aged, Toronto’s Big Picnic endured in memory and influence as a powerful example of communal pride and Pan‑African consciousness. Though the UNIA hall closed in 1982, its legacy remains through revived observances, commemorative events like Camp Wakanda Forever’s The Big Picnic, and local institutions named in Garvey’s honour including the Marcus Garvey Centre for Leadership and Enterprise. nationalhumanitiescenter.org+11spacing.ca+11teachingafricancanadianhistory.weebly.com+11

The historical roots of The Big Picnic from Lakeside Park Annunciation to downtown Liberty Hall highlight how a once-thriving Emancipation Day festival has been reborn in modern times. Today’s iteration at Camp Wakanda Forever isn’t just an event; it’s a living continuation of a century‑old tradition celebrating Black culture, unity, and the enduring spirit of Marcus Garvey.