Emporia’s Juneteenth Celebration is coming Thursday.
Activities will take place at Eastside Memorial Park. Eastside Community Group spokesman Arthur Lorick says the event will combine a celebration and education. Lorick says it’s important to make sure people understand the history behind the celebration.
Activities are from 4-7 pm Thursday, with food, refreshments, inflatables for kids and music.
Juneteenth developed after a proclamation freeing slaves reached Galveston Bay, Texas, in 1865 — two years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.
Juneteenth was officially designated as a national holiday in 2021.
