City of Orlando to host inaugural Juneteenth celebration this weekend
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JUNE 19: A woman wears a shirt with a raised fist on it at Broadway Celebrates Juneteenth in Times Square on June 19, 2021 in New York City. Broadway Celebrates Juneteenth organized by The Broadway League is a free outdoor concer
ORLANDO, Fla. - An inaugural Juneteenth celebration will kick off in Lake Lorna Doone Park in Orlando this weekend.
The City of Orlando said the event will feature live music and entertainment, a kid's zone, vendor village and food trucks.
The celebration is scheduled for Saturday, June 18 from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Mayor Buddy Dyer, District 5 Commissioner Regina I. Hill and District 6 Commissioner Bakari F. Burns will be in attendance.
In June 2021, President Joe Biden signed a bill into law that made Juneteenth, or June 19, a federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery.
Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, when Union soldiers brought the news of freedom to enslaved Black people in Galveston, Texas — two months after the Confederacy had surrendered. That was also about 2.5 years after the Emancipation Proclamation freed slaves in the Southern states.