Oxford to Celebrate Juneteenth With Two Great Events

By Alyssa Schnugg

News editor

alyssa.schnugg@hottytoddy.com

The annual Juneteenth celebration will be held on June 17 at the Oxford Intermediate School.

The new federal holiday is officially June 19; however, since it falls on a Monday the local celebration will be held Saturday.

The Juneteenth celebration started in Oxford more than 15 years ago when residents living on and near Martin Luther King Jr. Drive would gather together with friends and family to celebrate.

The event grew yearly from a small neighborhood block party with around 10 vendors to about 60 vendors at last year’s event.

Due to its growth over the years, the celebration moved from the streets in the Martin Luther King Drive neighborhood into the nearby Oxford Intermediate School parking lot.

On June 19, 1865, Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger led the Union Soldiers to Galveston, Texas to announce the end of the war and the freedom of all enslaved people.

Two years ago, Pres. Joe Biden signed a resolution establishing June 19 as a federal holiday.

The Juneteenth Celebration will kick off on June 10 with the Linen on the Lawn event at Old Armory Pavilion, which is held by the Yoknappatawpha Arts Council to help raise funds to support the Juneteenth Celebration.

The community picnic will take place from 6 to 9 p.m. with a free concert by The Soul Tones. There will be food trucks available and a cash bar. People can rent a table for $50 if they’d like; otherwise, bring a chair or blanket and it’s free.

The proceeds from the table rental go to support the Juneteenth event.

For more information, or to apply to be a vendor at the event, visit https://www.oxfordjuneteenth.org.