The History Behind The Juneteenth Festival

LOUISVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) – Music, games and fresh food. That’s what brought Louisville residents together for the 25th annual Juneteenth festival.

“It’s a great turnout, we have this event every year and we also have nice crowds coming through,” said Louisville resident Calvin Hampton.

“We’re all having a good time and the spirit is great,” said Charles Hampton, president of the Winston County NAACP.

While the crowd was enjoying themselves, they’re also celebrating and honoring the history behind Juneteenth.

“It’s to have fun, get a lot to eat, and it’s also a remembrance of what today is all about, and that’s the freedom of slavery,” said Hampton.

“This is when the slaves in Texas, and few more southern states got the word that they were finally free, but the president signed the proclamation in 1963, that was two later that they got the word that the were free,” said Hampton.

Juneteenth is the oldest known celebration commemorating the ending of slavery in the United States.

The proclamation was signed to free the slaves on June 19, 1865, and every year the city hosts this festival to pay respect to its significance.

“It’s significant that we do this every year, that we make sure that we spread the word as best we possibly can, we got to do a better job at spreading the word to make them understand the importance of this day,” said Hampton.

So wile the kids were having fun, their parents, and city leaders were using the festival as a learning tool to show them the importance of learning and knowing their history.

“Right now they don’t know their history, but eventually, they’ll learn about it and it’s things like this that’ll help the grasp a better understanding,” said Hampton.

This year marks 151 years since the proclamation was signed to free the slaves.