Juneteenth hasn’t always been a big holiday up in these parts, but down in Texas we all knew that it celebrates the day in 1865 when the slaves of Galveston learned that they were free.
DeCharlene Williams and the Central Area Chamber of Commerce have been bringing the traditions of that celebration to Seattle for a number of years. They’ve got three days of festivities planned for this weekend, all starting Friday afternoon at Pratt Park (20th & Yesler), where they’ll have food, music, dancing, kids events, and more.
Here’s the full schedule
- Friday (6/11) – 4pm – Festival kick-off, with a pageant and a free ice cream social provided by Dick’s Drive-in
- Saturday (6/12) – Noon – The Juneteenth parade will start by Garfield at 23rd & Fir, travel down 23rd, and west on Yesler to 20th. Grand Marshal is Chris Bennet of The Medium newspaper, and several elected officials such as Congressman McDermott and Port Commissioner Rob Holland will be marching.
- Saturday – 1:30pm – A full day of jazz, blues, and dance performances in the park. Vendors will be set up and offering food and other services
- Sunday – Noon – Church Day includes a guest pastor from Oak Harbor and his group of praise singers, plus music from Margo Williams Dunmore
Stay tuned for live coverage on CDNews too.
We are also having a kids parade on saturday your welcome to come and bring your dogs come join us a support our day the theme for this year is united we stand together together we stand united
Is there a more detailed schedule anywhere online? DeCharlene, what the time and location of the kids parade? Thanks!
I just realized I probably should have put this as a reply instead of an additional comment as I did earlier. Do have a time and a place for the kids parade?