Preparations continue for annual Juneteenth celebration

Submitted by Willspoint1 on
By David Kapitan Staff Writer

Organizers behind the city’s annual Juneteenth event have been hard at work in recent weeks, putting in dozens of hours to put together the finishing touches for the largest Juneteenth celebration in the area.

This year’s event will take place June 17. As has become tradition, highlights of this year’s event will once again include a parade, games, food and fellowship. 

Juneteenth is the oldest known celebration commemorating the end of slavery in the United States. On June 19, 1865, Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston with the news that the Civil War had ended and the enslaved were now free. 

This announcement came two years after President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation on September 22, 1862. The celebration of June 19 became “Juneteenth,” and the observance has grown beyond the borders of Texas and traveled to other countries. It became an official state holiday in Texas after having been signed into law on June 13, 1979.

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