Even as it hailed down last year, 30,000 people came together to celebrate the Southern Colorado Juneteenth Festival.
This year’s festival, organized by OneBodyEnt, is set to kick off Friday and continue through the weekend at America the Beautiful Park — with much better weather anticipated.
The free, three-day festival will have nearly 80 vendors, performers, food trucks, a car show, a Jamaican cook-off and plenty of kid-friendly activities.
“There’s not a dull moment,” said Jennifer Smith, co-founder of OneBodyEnt. “It’s for everybody.’
Juneteenth celebrates the emancipation of enslaved African Americans in the U.S.
The federal holiday recognizes the day, June 19, that news of freedom reached Galveston, Texas — more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation.
On that day in 1965, Union Gen. Gordon Granger read aloud General Order No. 3, letting all know that enslaved people in Texas were free.
Smith and her husband founded the festival four years ago, seeing that there weren’t large Juneteenth celebrations around the Pikes Peak region.
Now, the festival has become among the 10 largest Juneteenth celebrations in the country, she said.
“The numbers show — we had 30,000 people coming in that weather that we got last year, huddling up on the pavilion and still trying to come out,” she said.
“We had 12,000 people at one time, in one hour on Sunday last year, and the Downtown Partnership said that was the second largest event in a decade.”
Friday evening, comedians Joe Torry, Darius Bradford, B-Phlat and Brian Sullivan are set to perform on the Main Stage.
On Saturday, Jacquees & Friends will perform at 5 p.m., followed by a literacy corner and local musician showcase. Headlining the festival Sunday: Tony Exum Jr., H-Town, E. De La and Renee Neufville.
Throughout the final day of the festival, there will also be an Emancipation Ceremony and Gospel in the Park.
Off-stage, the fest will host a pet health clinic running Friday afternoon, as well as several educational pop-ups. There will be plenty of kid activities as well, including a petting zoo.
Seeing the community celebrate Juneteenth is the best part of organizing the festival, Smith said, and she encourages everyone to join in the festivities.
“It’s rewarding,” she said. “To have the support of the city, to have the support of the community, is the most important thing. They support you. They’ll do the work, and they’ll volunteer to show up.”
