Juneteenth rapidly is matching January’s Martin Luther King Day for the level of public events and community interest.
At the same time, news of the Emancipation Proclamation’s final arrival (June 19, 1865) joins the Declaration of Independence (July 4, 1776) two weeks later on the early summer calendar.
Saginawians will have choices of five venues to celebrate the newest holiday this weekend, with a sixth option up in Midland.
Miss Juneteenth Pageant, 5 p.m. Friday at Horizons Center. Tickets $45, or $15 for ages 12 and under.
Juneteenth Freedom Parade, 11 a.m. Saturday, starting at Hoyt Park and heading along South Washington to downtown’s SVRC Marketplace.
Juneteenth Freedom Festival, 12 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Saturday, downtown Morley Plaza.
Juneteenth Festival, 1 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, 1315 North Fifth.
Juneteenth Storytime, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Saginaw Art Museum, 1226 North Michigan.
“A Day of Freedom” Block Party, 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday at Midland’s Creative 360, an arts nonprofit at 1517 Bayliss Street.
Soul Food Celebration, 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. Monday at SVRC Marketplace, 203 S Washington Ave.
The outdoor events (Art Museum in garden area) are free of charge. These are in addition to countless church celebrations in the Greater Saginaw area.
Two celebrations
The festival on Fifth and Farwell is a half-block right turn off of North Washington and less than a mile from the newer downtown event. It is based at a former credit union that had been transformed into a short-lived Juneteenth Cultural Center 20 years ago, in the same location as Stevie Wonder’s birthplace. Meanwhile, the downtown festival is in its second year, with linkage to the parade and the pageant. Organizers for both express outlooks that the dual proceedings complement one another.
In addition, with no references to Juneteenth, New Birth Missionary Baptist Cathedral at 3121 Sheridan is hosting a Community Outreach Festival from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
What Is Juneteenth?
Readers are free to research an array of sources. Scholastic is a familiar school book name still in use in Saginaw and many other communities, and so this is a fair general example of what our elementary children are learning. Click here to read Scholastic’s meaning of Juneteenth.
