Jamestown Juneteenth’s Festival kicks off Thursday with a flag raising ceremony.
The ceremony will take place at 5:00 p.m. at the Robert H. Jackson Center. Juneteenth Organizer and City Council member Regina Brackman said following the flag ceremony will be a free viewing of the documentary, “Faith and Freedom” inside the Robert H. Jackson Center, “And it’s a story about the residents of Galveston and how they celebrate Juneteenth and what Juneteenth means to them. And many of them have family lineage that they speak on.”
Juneteenth recognizes when enslaved people living in Galveston, Texas, learned of their emancipation approximately 2.5 years after the Civil War ended. On June 19, 1865, enslaved people in Texas became free. This was the last state of the Confederacy to learn of the independence, even though President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863. President Joe Biden made the day a national holiday in 2021.
Celebrations will continue Friday with music by The Breeze Band on the Wintergarden Plaza from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.
On Saturday, opening ceremonies will take place at 11:00 a.m. at Jackson-Taylor Park followed by kids activities, vendors, African Drum and Dance demonstrations; and more.
The event resumes Sunday morning with breakfast at 8:30 a.m. and a worship service at 9:00 a.m. Festival activities begin again at 11:00 a.m. and then the Juneteenth Scholarship presentation will take place at 2:00 p.m and a Gospel Fest at 3:00 p.m.
All events are free and open to the public.
For more information about Juneteenth celebrations, visit facebook.com/JTownJTeenth
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