Flint’s City Wide Juneteenth Celebration set for June 14-19

FLINT, Michigan — Flint’s City Wide Juneteenth Celebration returns for its 29th year with a series of family friendly events. 

Long coordinated by Paul Herring of Spectacle Productions, the celebration has grown to include multiple organizations offering their own events to celebrate African-American history and heritage.

Often considered the oldest African-American holiday, Juneteenth commemorates the official end of slavery in the United States. On June 19, 1865, Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, to announce that the Civil War had ended and that the enlaved were now free people. It came more than two years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. 

The celebrations begin with the Freedom Festival hosted by Prince of Peace Missionary Baptist Church on June 14 and 15. It is the second year for the event which this year will include Black Wallstreet in Ballenger park from noon to 7 p.m. on Friday, June 14, and the Mackin Road Parade at 1 p.m. on Saturday, June 15.

This year’s activities also includes a Father’s Day and community garden instillation in University Square on Saturday and Sunday, June 15 and 16, as well as a Youth Freedom Dinner hosted by GCCARD at 5:30 p.m. on June 16.

The Urban Family Dodge Ball tournament is set for 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 19, on Kearsley Street and another parade is planned for June 19 from Max Brandon Park to River Bank Park.

For more information, check out the City Wide Juneteenth Celebration Facebook page.